Black History Month serves as a mirror of the prevailing political atmosphere, so in what ways can we modernize it?
We are in Black History Month in the Britain, and it seems it’s time for a re-evaluation. Over the years, an event that started out as a festivity and recollection of heritage, traditions and links between international African diaspora communities, has adopted a commercial tone, broadening to incorporate gatherings where Black people are paid to address white audiences about implicit prejudice and “allyship”. The anti-racism rallies of the last decade generated a rise in the industry of showcasing anti-racist commitment. But even that moment has passed. The tide has peaked, leaving a sort of hollowed out legacy of what promoting consciousness is for.
The Background of Black History Observance
Initially celebrated in the United States and Canada, Black History Month was created in 1962 as an observance of African American heritage by historian of African descent Carter G. Woodson with multiple days of remembrance and recognition in the second week of February. Black History Month evolved from this movement and was publicly established in 1970. Currently it is marked not only in the United States and Canada in winter, but also in October in the Britain, Germany, Éire and the Holland.
The period has evolved since those days, placing less emphasis on the narratives of the slave trade across the Atlantic and civil rights battles, and more on notable African descendants in government, the arts, and social movements, and extensively acknowledging the contribution Black people have made to influence the nation. It is in learning environments where Black History Month is most commonly celebrated, with talks and cultural events. But the manner the month is commemorated is a manifestation of the current political situation. How it progresses is a instructive case in how assimilation leads to erosion: the reshaping of Black History Month has hindered the purpose of it, which is to address systemic and institutional racism.
A Troubling Time
Few things illustrate how important it is to reevaluate Black History Month better than the specific period in which it occurs this year. In the UK, a resurgent right in the form of the Reform political group is top in opinion ratings. In the warmer months we observed the most significant ultra-conservative gathering in the history of Britain. a prominent political figure, the African descendant in charge of the Tory party, is a firm opponent of Black Lives Matter, and we are in a place where a member of parliament feels emboldened to say that “not seeing any white faces” in parts of a city is a reason for concern. At the same time, ultra-nationalist movements are growing in the European continent as a complete entity.
In the America, a significant offensive against DEI and affirmative action has been carried, frequently with success, to the top legal institutions of the state. A effort to remove African American heritage and narrative from the records is ongoing. One of Donald Trump's initial presidential directives aimed at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the Smithsonian Institution, accusing them of a “concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation’s history” by representing the nation “as fundamentally prejudiced”.
Given these circumstances, the celebration represents how insufficiently it can be impactful if it is limited to either obligatory business commemorations, or politically neutered festivities of contributions in the past, rather than confronting the conditions of the contemporary world. It also shows how its short period means that it is detached from the wider consistent effort that is required. An academic expert, a professor at University of Greenwich, articulated it most accurately when she voiced worries about the short-term symbolic gestures of the celebration. “The problem with taking a tokenistic approach”, she wrote, “is that it frequently results in that Black History Month becomes a fleeting performance rather than a driver of transformation.”
Reevaluating, Not Abandoning
Establishing how to adapt, revise and extend initiatives for equal rights and acknowledgment in such moments of dejection and worry is a treacherous thing. There is a inclination to just discontinue observances such as Black History Month altogether, assuming they are inadequate for current needs, or are relics of an period that has been ineffective.
But despite everything, Black History Month, and in fact the entire extended network and tradition of campaigns for equality – local anti-racism groups, inclusion and equity efforts, and yes, even those talks to businesses – form an framework that a considerable labor has gone into. It is there not just to decay as the politics moves on (and in fact, regresses), but to be a dynamic entity.
So what would a fresh vibrant Black History Month look like? Firstly, it would be more than a single focused period: something that is dispersed through the year (as some institutions are already beginning to do), sections of its curriculum (particularly around notable African descendants) integrated into educational programs. It would also be a time that does not avoid governmental matters, and provides room for citizens, particularly the younger generation, to share their anxieties and narratives. What purpose serves basic knowledge of the history when it doesn’t reckon with the present reality of ultra-nationalist gatherings in the public spaces? Organizations who observe it should not be pacified with the passive language of “unconscious bias” and awareness of “microaggressions”, but faced with the threats that affect everyone if anti-racism is not taken seriously. In short, Black History Month should be made up-to-date, urgent, and responsive. It could be that an total re-identification is in order – Black History is Now Month.
