Black History Month is a reflection 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 celebration that started out as a celebration and reminder of heritage, traditions and links between Black populations worldwide, has adopted a business-like atmosphere, expanding to include gatherings where Black people are paid to talk to white audiences about implicit prejudice and “allyship”. The 2020s Black Lives Matter protests generated a rise in the industry of demonstrating racial awareness. However, that period has concluded. The wave has peaked, resulting in a somewhat empty inheritance of what promoting consciousness is for.
The Background of Black History Celebration
Originally observed in the US and Canada, Black History Month was established in 1962 as “Negro History Week” by Black scholar Carter G. Woodson with seven days of commemoration and observance in the February's second week. Black History Month evolved from this campaign and was officially launched in 1970. Today it is observed not only in the US and Canada in February, but also in the tenth month in the United Kingdom, the Federal Republic of Germany, Ireland and the Holland.
The observance has developed since those days, giving reduced attention to the accounts of the slave trade across the Atlantic and fights for racial justice, and increasingly on notable African descendants in government, the arts, and social movements, and widely honoring the impact Black people have made to influence the nation. It is in learning environments where Black History Month is most frequently marked, with talks and cultural events. But the way the celebration is celebrated is a indication of the contemporary political context. How it develops is a instructive case in how appropriation leads to dismantling: the restructuring of Black History Month has impeded the purpose of it, which is to address systemic and institutional racism.
A Troubling Time
Little demonstrates how crucial it is to reconsider Black History Month more than the current time in which it takes place this year. In the United Kingdom, a reemerging right-wing in the form of the Reform party is leading the polls. In the recent season we witnessed the largest far-right rally in the history of Britain. Kemi Badenoch, the person of color at the helm of the right-wing political group, is a staunch adversary of Black Lives Matter, and we are in a place where a legislator feels emboldened to state that a lack of white people in parts of a city is a source of worry. Meanwhile, extreme conservative groups are expanding in the European continent as a complete entity.
In the United States, a colossal assault against inclusion programs and preferential policies has been brought, often successfully, to the top legal institutions of the state. A campaign to remove the history of people of color and narrative from the historical documents is under way. One of the former president's initial presidential directives focused on the museum of African American legacy, and the prestigious establishment, alleging that they of a organized and extensive campaign to alter the country's historical narrative” by depicting the United States “as naturally discriminatory”.
In this context, the observance illustrates how little it can be influential if it is limited to either routine organizational acknowledgments, or politically neutered commemorations of historical achievements, rather than addressing the realities of the present. It also demonstrates how its limited duration means that it is disconnected from the wider consistent effort that is required. Denise Miller, a professor at an educational institution, put it best when she raised concerns about the fleeting superficial actions of the observance. “The problem with embracing a superficial method”, she stated, “is that it typically leads to that Black History Month becomes a transient display rather than a catalyst for change.”
Reconsidering, Not Discarding
Determining how to adapt, revise and extend actions for racial equality and recognition in such moments of dejection and worry is a challenging endeavor. There is a urge to just do away with events including Black History Month altogether, believing they are no longer suitable, or are vestiges of an period that has not worked.
However, regardless of the situation, Black History Month, and in fact the entire extended network and heritage of campaigns for equality – grassroots Black Lives Matter organisations, inclusion and equity efforts, and certainly, even commercial engagements – constitute an infrastructure that a significant effort has gone into. It is there not only to deteriorate as the situation evolves (and in fact, deteriorates), but to be a living breathing thing.
So what would a new dynamic Black History Month seem? To begin with, it would be more than a single focused period: something that is dispersed through the year (as various establishments are already beginning to do), sections of its curriculum (particularly around historic Black characters) incorporated into academic syllabi. It would also be a time that does not avoid political issues, and provides room for individuals, particularly young people, to air their fears and experiences. What purpose serves basic knowledge of the bygone era when it doesn’t reckon with the contemporary truth of extreme conservative demonstrations in the public spaces? Institutions who mark it should not be reassured with the neutral terminology of implicit prejudice and alertness to “microaggressions”, but confronted with the dangers that affect everyone if fight against prejudice is not taken seriously. In short, Black History Month should be made current, pressing, and responsive. It could be that an entire name rebrand is in order – Black History is Now Month.
