This commemorative month is a reflection of the current political climate, so how do we revamp it?
This is Black History Month in the Britain, and it feels like it’s time for a reassessment. Throughout its history, an event that started out as a celebration and reminder of the past, cultural identity and bonds between global Black communities, has taken on a commercial tone, growing to encompass gatherings where individuals of African heritage are paid to speak with predominantly white listeners about hidden biases and active solidarity. The demonstrations for racial justice in the 2020s generated a rise in the enterprise of demonstrating racial awareness. However, that period has concluded. The tide has reached its height, leaving a sort of hollowed out legacy of what raising awareness is for.
The Origins of Black History Observance
Originally observed in the America and its northern neighbor, Black History Month was established in 1962 as “Negro History Week” by African American historian Carter G. Woodson with seven days of commemoration and observance in the second week of February. Black History Month evolved from this campaign and was formally inaugurated in 1970. Today it is observed not only in the United States and Canada in winter, but also in the tenth month in the Britain, Deutschland, the Republic of Ireland and the Netherlands.
The observance has transformed since that time, giving reduced attention to the histories of colonial slavery and civil rights battles, and greater focus on notable African descendants in government, the arts, and social movements, and widely honoring the contribution Black people have made to mold society. It is in schools where Black History Month is most regularly observed, with lectures and artistic activities. But the way the month is celebrated is a manifestation of the current political situation. How it develops is a instructive case in how assimilation leads to weakening: the transformation of Black History Month has impeded the point of it, which is to confront embedded and established prejudice.
A Troubling Time
Few things illustrate how important it is to rethink Black History Month better than the specific period in which it occurs this year. In the UK, a revitalized conservative movement in the guise of the Reform organization is ahead in surveys. In the warmer months we saw the largest far-right rally in British history. a prominent political figure, the Black leader of the right-wing political group, is a staunch adversary of anti-racism activism, and we are in a place where a member of parliament gains confidence to state that “not seeing any white faces” in specific city neighborhoods is a source of worry. Simultaneously, ultra-nationalist movements are expanding in the EU as a complete entity.
In the America, a massive attack against inclusion programs and preferential policies has been carried, repeatedly with positive outcomes, to the top legal institutions of the state. A drive to remove Black history and narrative from the records is ongoing. One of the political figure's early administrative commands focused on the museum of African American legacy, and the Smithsonian Institution, accusing them of a coordinated and broad attempt to rewrite our Nation’s history” by portraying America “as naturally discriminatory”.
In this context, the month symbolises how little it can be influential if it is restricted to either routine organizational acknowledgments, or depoliticized commemorations of contributions in the past, rather than confronting the situation of the contemporary world. It also demonstrates how its short period means that it is disconnected from the more extensive continuous action that is necessary. Denise Miller, a educator at University of Greenwich, put it best when she voiced worries about the temporary “tokenism” of the celebration. “The problem with adopting a symbolic stance”, she wrote, “is that it typically leads to that Black History Month evolves into a transient display rather than a driver of transformation.”
Reconsidering, Not Discarding
Establishing how to adjust, modify and expand actions for equal rights and acknowledgment in such periods of dismay and anxiety is a difficult task. There is a inclination to just discontinue events including Black History Month completely, believing they are no longer suitable, or are remnants of an era that has not worked.
However, regardless of the situation, Black History Month, and in fact the entire extended network and heritage of racial movements – local anti-racism groups, DEI programs, and certainly, even commercial engagements – constitute an framework that a significant effort has been dedicated to. It is there not only to deteriorate as the politics moves on (and in fact, declines), but to be a living breathing thing.
So what would a new dynamic Black History Month look like? Well, first, it would be more than a single focused period: something that is spread out throughout the annual calendar (as some institutions are already beginning to do), elements of its material (particularly around historic Black characters) included in educational programs. It would also be a time that does not evade politics, and provides room for individuals, particularly the younger generation, to share their anxieties and narratives. What use is mere awareness of the bygone era when it doesn’t reckon with the contemporary truth of far-right rallies in the public spaces? Establishments who mark it should not be pacified with the neutral terminology of implicit prejudice and sensitivity to “microaggressions”, but faced with the threats that impact society if fight against prejudice is not treated with importance. In short, Black History Month should be made contemporary, pressing, and responsive. Maybe an complete renaming is required – Present-Day African Heritage Celebration.
