This commemorative month serves as a mirror of the prevailing political atmosphere, so what steps can we take to refresh it?
It's Black History Month in the Britain, and it feels like it’s time for a re-evaluation. Over the years, an observance that began as a festivity and recollection of heritage, traditions and links between Black populations worldwide, has adopted a corporate feel, growing to encompass functions where individuals of African heritage are remunerated to speak with white audiences about hidden biases and active solidarity. The anti-racism rallies of the last decade created a surge in the enterprise of showcasing anti-racist commitment. Yet, that phase is now over. The wave has peaked, producing a diluted aftermath of what raising awareness is for.
The Background of Black History Celebration
Originally observed in the US and Canada, Black History Month was established in 1962 as a week dedicated to Negro history by Black scholar Carter G. Woodson with a week of commemoration and observance in the February's second week. Black History Month grew out of this initiative and was formally inaugurated in 1970. Now it is celebrated not only in the United States and Canada in the second month, but also in October in the UK, Deutschland, Éire and the Holland.
The observance has evolved since those days, focusing less on the accounts of the slave trade across the Atlantic and struggles for equality, and increasingly on prominent Black figures in politics, culture, and activism, and broadly celebrating the input 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 method the month is observed is a manifestation of the contemporary political context. How it develops is a valuable example in how assimilation leads to erosion: the reshaping of Black History Month has hindered the purpose of it, which is to confront embedded and established prejudice.
A Troubling Time
Hardly anything shows how important it is to rethink Black History Month more than the specific period in which it takes place this year. In the UK, a revitalized conservative movement in the shape of the Reform party is top in opinion ratings. In the recent season we observed the most significant ultra-conservative gathering in the UK's past. Kemi Badenoch, the Black leader of the Tory party, is a strong critic of the racial justice movement, and we are in a situation where a member of parliament feels emboldened to state that “not seeing any white faces” in parts of a city is a source of worry. Simultaneously, ultra-nationalist movements are expanding in Europe as a complete entity.
In the America, a massive attack against diversity initiatives and positive discrimination has been brought, often successfully, to the top legal institutions of the country. A drive to remove Black history and experience from the archives is under way. One of the former president's first executive orders targeted the museum of African American legacy, and the Smithsonian Institution, claiming they of a “concerted and widespread effort to change the national past” by representing the nation “as fundamentally prejudiced”.
In this context, the month illustrates how insufficiently it can be influential if it is restricted to either dutiful corporate observances, or stripped of political content celebrations of contributions in the past, rather than addressing the conditions of the current era. It also shows how its short period means that it is detached from the more extensive continuous action that is necessary. Denise Miller, a prof at a learning establishment, expressed it perfectly when she raised concerns about the short-term symbolic gestures of the celebration. “The difficulty with embracing a superficial method”, she wrote, “is that it often means that Black History Month evolves into a brief show rather than a agent of progress.”
Rethinking, But Not Jettisoning
Establishing how to adjust, modify and expand actions for racial equality and recognition in such moments of dejection and worry is a treacherous thing. There is a inclination to just do away with events including Black History Month entirely, believing they are simply not fit for purpose, or are relics of an time that has failed to deliver.
But despite everything, Black History Month, and in fact the whole broad system and heritage of activism for racial justice – community-based BLM initiatives, DEI programs, and yes, even those talks to businesses – form an infrastructure that a lot of work has been invested in. It is there not just to decay as the political landscape shifts (and in fact, deteriorates), but to be a living breathing thing.
So what would a contemporary active Black History Month look like? Well, first, it would be more than a single focused period: something that is distributed through the year (as certain organizations are already starting to implement), sections of its curriculum (particularly around historic Black characters) incorporated into academic syllabi. It would also be a period that does not evade politics, and allows opportunity for citizens, particularly young people, to share their anxieties and narratives. What purpose serves basic knowledge of the history when it ignores the contemporary truth of far-right rallies in the urban areas? Establishments who observe it should not be reassured with the passive language of hidden discrimination and alertness to subtle slights, but challenged by the dangers that affect everyone if fight against prejudice is not taken seriously. In short, Black History Month should be made contemporary, pressing, and adaptive. Maybe an entire name rebrand is necessary – Black History is Now Month.
