The annual Black History observance acts as a gauge of the political moment, so what steps can we take to refresh it?
We are in Black History Month in the United Kingdom, and it appears it’s time for a rethink. As time has passed, an event that was initiated as a commemorative event of the past, cultural identity and bonds between international African diaspora communities, has developed a corporate feel, expanding to include functions where individuals of African heritage are paid to talk to predominantly white listeners about hidden biases and “allyship”. The 2020s Black Lives Matter protests created a surge in the business of displaying cultural sensitivity. However, that period has concluded. The surge has reached its height, resulting in a somewhat empty inheritance of what raising awareness is for.
The Origins of Black History Month
Originally observed in the United States and Canada, Black History Month was conceived in 1962 as “Negro History Week” by historian of African descent Carter G. Woodson with multiple days of celebration and reflection in the middle of February. Black History Month developed from this movement and was formally inaugurated in 1970. Currently it is marked not only in the United States and Canada in February, but also in October in the United Kingdom, Germany, Éire and the Netherlands.
The period has transformed since those days, placing less emphasis on the accounts of transatlantic enslavement and civil rights battles, and greater focus on influential individuals of color in government, the arts, and social movements, and broadly celebrating the impact Black people have made to influence the nation. It is in learning environments where Black History Month is most regularly observed, with lectures and artistic activities. But the way the celebration is commemorated is a manifestation of the contemporary political context. How it develops is a good lesson in how assimilation leads to dismantling: the restructuring of Black History Month has stymied the objective of it, which is to address structural and organizational discrimination.
A Troubling Time
Few things illustrate how critical it is to reevaluate Black History Month better than the particular moment in which it falls this year. In the Britain, a resurgent right in the shape of the Reform party is leading the polls. In the recent season we observed the biggest extreme right demonstration in the history of Britain. a prominent political figure, the Black leader of the Conservative party, is a staunch adversary of the racial justice movement, and we are in a situation where a member of parliament feels empowered to say that the absence of Caucasian individuals in certain urban areas is a source of worry. Simultaneously, far-right parties are growing in the EU as a whole.
In the US, a massive attack against diversity initiatives and positive discrimination has been carried, repeatedly with positive outcomes, to the supreme judicial bodies of the country. A campaign to remove African American heritage and experience from the records is ongoing. One of the former president's initial presidential directives targeted the museum of African American legacy, and the Smithsonian Institution, alleging that they of a organized and extensive campaign to change the national past” by portraying America “as naturally discriminatory”.
Against this backdrop, the month symbolises how minimally it can be influential if it is confined to either obligatory business commemorations, or depoliticized celebrations of former accomplishments, rather than challenging the situation of the present. It also reveals how its restricted time span means that it is disconnected from the wider consistent effort that is needed. An academic expert, a educator at an educational institution, put it best when she expressed apprehension about the short-term symbolic gestures of the observance. “The difficulty with embracing a superficial method”, she commented, “is that it frequently results in that Black History Month evolves into a fleeting performance rather than a agent of progress.”
Reconsidering, Not Discarding
Figuring out how to adjust, modify and expand efforts for fair treatment and appreciation in such times of discouragement and concern is a difficult task. There is a temptation to just discontinue observances such as Black History Month altogether, believing they are inadequate for current needs, or are remnants of an time that has been ineffective.
However, regardless of the situation, Black History Month, and in fact the whole broad system and legacy of racial movements – community-based BLM initiatives, inclusion and equity efforts, and certainly, even commercial engagements – constitute an foundation that a considerable labor has gone into. It is there not just to decay as the politics moves on (and in fact, deteriorates), but to be a dynamic entity.
So what would a fresh vibrant Black History Month appear as? Well, first, it would be not just one concentrated month: something that is dispersed across all seasons (as some institutions are already beginning to do), sections of its curriculum (particularly around prominent figures of color) included in educational programs. It would also be a time that does not avoid governmental matters, and leaves space for people, particularly young people, to share their anxieties and narratives. What use is basic knowledge of the bygone era when it fails to address the current situation of ultra-nationalist gatherings in the public spaces? Organizations who celebrate it should not be reassured with the passive language of “unconscious bias” and awareness of subtle slights, but confronted with the risks that impact society if anti-racism is not taken seriously. To summarize, Black History Month should be made up-to-date, pressing, and responsive. It could be that an total re-identification is in order – Black History is Now Month.
