The annual Black History observance acts as a gauge of the political moment, so how do we revamp it?
This is Black History Month in the UK, and it feels like it’s time for a re-evaluation. Throughout its history, an event that began as a celebration and reminder of history, culture and the connections between Black populations worldwide, has adopted a business-like atmosphere, expanding to include events where African descendants are paid to talk to predominantly white listeners about hidden biases and active solidarity. The 2020s Black Lives Matter protests created a surge in the enterprise of showcasing anti-racist commitment. Yet, that phase is now over. The surge has crested, resulting in a somewhat empty inheritance of what promoting consciousness is for.
The Origins of Black History Observance
First commemorated in the United States and Canada, Black History Month was established in 1962 as a week dedicated to Negro history by African American historian Carter G. Woodson with a week of celebration and reflection in the second week of February. Black History Month evolved from this initiative and was formally inaugurated in 1970. Today it is observed not only in the North America in winter, but also in October in the Britain, Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands.
The period has transformed since that time, focusing less on the accounts of transatlantic enslavement and civil rights battles, and more on influential individuals of color in government, the arts, and social movements, and widely honoring the impact Black people have made to mold society. It is in educational institutions where Black History Month is most frequently marked, with talks and cultural events. But the method the observance is commemorated is a reflection of the political moment. How it progresses is a good lesson in how assimilation leads to weakening: the reshaping of Black History Month has impeded the point of it, which is to address systemic and institutional racism.
A Disconcerting Period
Hardly anything shows how important it is to reevaluate Black History Month as much as the particular moment in which it occurs this year. In the Britain, a reemerging right-wing in the shape of the Reform political group is leading the polls. In the warmer months we saw the most significant ultra-conservative gathering in the history of Britain. the Conservative leader, the Black leader of the Tory party, is a strong critic of anti-racism activism, and we are in a situation where a legislator gains confidence to say that a lack of white people in certain urban areas is a source of worry. At the same time, ultra-nationalist movements are growing in the EU as a complete entity.
In the US, a significant offensive against DEI and affirmative action has been taken, frequently with success, to the top legal institutions of the nation. A drive to scrub the history of people of color and experience from the records is under way. One of the former president's first executive orders targeted the museum of African American legacy, and the Smithsonian Institution, accusing them of a “concerted and widespread effort to change the national past” by representing the nation “as fundamentally prejudiced”.
Against this backdrop, the observance represents how minimally it can be impactful if it is limited to either dutiful corporate observances, or depoliticized celebrations of former accomplishments, rather than challenging the conditions of the current era. It also reveals how its limited duration means that it is separated from the wider consistent effort that is needed. An academic expert, a prof at University of Greenwich, expressed it perfectly when she raised concerns about the short-term symbolic gestures of the observance. “The issue with embracing a superficial method”, she stated, “is that it frequently results in that Black History Month turns into a brief show rather than a driver of transformation.”
Reconsidering, Not Discarding
Establishing how to adapt, revise and extend efforts for racial equality and recognition in such periods of dismay and anxiety is a challenging endeavor. There is a inclination to just discontinue events including Black History Month altogether, thinking they are simply not fit for purpose, or are vestiges of an time that has been ineffective.
However, regardless of the situation, Black History Month, and in fact the whole broad system and heritage of racial movements – grassroots Black Lives Matter organisations, diversity equity and inclusion initiatives, and certainly, even commercial engagements – constitute an framework that a considerable labor has gone into. It is there not just to decay as the political landscape shifts (and in fact, regresses), but to be a living breathing thing.
So what would a fresh vibrant Black History Month look like? Well, first, it would be not just one concentrated month: something that is spread out through the year (as various establishments are already beginning to do), parts of its content (particularly around prominent figures of color) incorporated into academic syllabi. It would also be a era that does not shy away from governmental matters, and allows opportunity for citizens, particularly young people, to air their fears and experiences. What value has basic knowledge of the history when it ignores the present reality of extreme conservative demonstrations in the public spaces? Organizations who mark it should not be comforted with the neutral terminology of hidden discrimination and awareness of minor insults, but confronted with the dangers that affect everyone if fight against prejudice is not taken seriously. To summarize, Black History Month should be made current, critical, and reactive. It could be that an total re-identification is required – Contemporary Black History Month.
