Black History Month serves as a mirror of the prevailing political atmosphere, so how do we revamp it?
It's Black History Month in the UK, and it appears it’s time for a reassessment. As time has passed, an celebration that started out as a celebration and reminder of the past, cultural identity and bonds between Black populations worldwide, has adopted a business-like atmosphere, growing to encompass functions where Black people are paid to talk to predominantly white listeners about “unconscious bias” and “allyship”. The demonstrations for racial justice in the 2020s created a surge in the business of showcasing anti-racist commitment. However, that period has concluded. The surge has reached its height, leaving a sort of hollowed out legacy of what promoting consciousness is for.
The Background of Black History Celebration
First commemorated in the US and Canada, Black History Month was established in 1962 as a week dedicated to Negro history by historian of African descent Carter G. Woodson with multiple days of celebration and reflection in the February's second week. Black History Month grew out of this movement and was formally inaugurated in 1970. Now it is celebrated not only in the North America in February, but also in October in the United Kingdom, Deutschland, Ireland and the the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
The period has transformed since its inception, focusing less on the histories of the slave trade across the Atlantic and civil rights battles, and more on influential individuals of color in government, the arts, and social movements, and broadly celebrating the contribution Black people have made to shape the country. It is in learning environments where Black History Month is most regularly observed, with talks and cultural events. But the manner the celebration is commemorated is a indication of the current political situation. How it develops is a valuable example in how appropriation leads to dismantling: the reshaping of Black History Month has stymied the purpose of it, which is to address structural and organizational discrimination.
A Jarring Moment
Little demonstrates how critical it is to rethink Black History Month more than the particular moment in which it occurs this year. In the United Kingdom, a resurgent right in the guise of the Reform political group is leading the polls. In the warmer months we witnessed the largest far-right rally in the history of Britain. the Conservative leader, the person of color at the helm of the Conservative party, is a strong critic of anti-racism activism, and we are in a position where a elected representative feels emboldened to state that the absence of Caucasian individuals in parts of a city is a cause for alarm. At the same time, ultra-nationalist movements are expanding in the EU as a complete entity.
In the US, a colossal assault against DEI and affirmative action has been brought, repeatedly with positive outcomes, to the supreme judicial bodies of the country. A effort to scrub Black history and experience from the historical documents is in progress. One of the political figure's initial presidential directives focused on the institution dedicated to Black heritage, and the prestigious establishment, accusing them of a organized and extensive campaign to alter the country's historical narrative” by representing the nation “as fundamentally prejudiced”.
Against this backdrop, the celebration illustrates how minimally it can be effective if it is restricted to either obligatory business commemorations, or stripped of political content commemorations of former accomplishments, rather than confronting the realities of the contemporary world. It also demonstrates how its restricted time span means that it is disconnected from the more extensive continuous action that is necessary. A university professor, a educator at a learning establishment, put it best when she voiced worries about the short-term symbolic gestures of the observance. “The problem with embracing a superficial method”, she stated, “is that it typically leads to that Black History Month becomes a brief show rather than a agent of progress.”
Reevaluating, Not Abandoning
Determining how to adjust, modify and expand initiatives for equal rights and acknowledgment in such moments of dejection and worry is a difficult task. There is a urge to just discontinue things like Black History Month altogether, thinking they are simply not fit for purpose, or are remnants of an era that has failed to deliver.
Yet, in spite of all this, Black History Month, and in fact the complete comprehensive structure and heritage of racial movements – grassroots Black Lives Matter organisations, inclusion and equity efforts, and indeed, including corporate presentations – represent an foundation that a considerable labor has gone into. It is there not merely to decline as the political landscape shifts (and in fact, deteriorates), but to be a dynamic entity.
So what would a fresh vibrant Black History Month seem? Well, first, it would be not just one concentrated month: something that is dispersed through the year (as various establishments are already commencing), sections of its curriculum (particularly around notable African descendants) included in school curriculums. It would also be a period that does not avoid governmental matters, and leaves space for citizens, particularly young people, to express their concerns and stories. What value has mere awareness of the history when it ignores the contemporary truth of far-right rallies in the public spaces? Organizations who celebrate it should not be comforted with the non-confrontational words of “unconscious bias” and alertness to subtle slights, but confronted with the risks that impact society if anti-racism is not approached earnestly. To summarize, Black History Month should be made contemporary, critical, and reactive. Perhaps an entire name rebrand is in order – Black History is Now Month.
