The annual Black History observance acts as a gauge of the prevailing political atmosphere, so in what ways can we modernize it?
It's Black History Month in the UK, and it feels like it’s time for a rethink. As time has passed, an observance that started out as a commemorative event of heritage, traditions and links between global Black communities, has taken on a business-like atmosphere, broadening to incorporate gatherings where individuals of African heritage are paid to speak with Caucasian groups about “unconscious bias” and active solidarity. The 2020s Black Lives Matter protests generated a rise in the industry of showcasing anti-racist commitment. However, that period has concluded. The wave 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 America and its northern neighbor, Black History Month was established in 1962 as an observance of African American heritage by Black scholar Carter G. Woodson with multiple days of remembrance and recognition in the second week of February. Black History Month grew out of this campaign and was officially launched in 1970. Now it is celebrated not only in the North America in winter, but also in the tenth month in the United Kingdom, the Federal Republic of Germany, Éire and the Netherlands.
The observance has developed since those days, placing less emphasis on the accounts of colonial slavery and fights for racial justice, and increasingly on influential individuals of color in public life, creative fields, and advocacy, and extensively acknowledging the input Black people have made to influence the nation. It is in learning environments where Black History Month is most frequently marked, with discussions and heritage festivities. But the way the month is commemorated is a manifestation of the political moment. How it progresses is a good lesson in how appropriation leads to dismantling: the restructuring of Black History Month has hindered the purpose of it, which is to confront embedded and established prejudice.
A Troubling Time
Little demonstrates how important it is to rethink Black History Month better than the particular moment in which it occurs this year. In the UK, a reemerging right-wing in the form of the Reform political group is ahead in surveys. In the summer we witnessed the most significant ultra-conservative gathering in the history of Britain. Kemi Badenoch, the person of color at the helm 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 declare that a lack of white people in specific city neighborhoods is a source of worry. Meanwhile, far-right parties are surging in Europe as a whole.
In the America, a massive attack against DEI and affirmative action has been carried, frequently with success, to the top legal institutions of the nation. A drive to remove Black history and legacy from the historical documents is under way. One of Donald Trump's initial presidential directives aimed at the museum of African American legacy, and the prestigious establishment, accusing them of a coordinated and broad attempt to alter the country's historical narrative” by representing the nation “as fundamentally prejudiced”.
Given these circumstances, the observance represents how insufficiently it can be effective if it is restricted to either routine organizational acknowledgments, or stripped of political content festivities of contributions in the past, rather than confronting the situation of the current era. It also reveals how its limited duration means that it is detached from the broader ongoing work that is required. A university professor, a prof at University of Greenwich, articulated it most accurately when she expressed apprehension about the short-term symbolic gestures of the celebration. “The issue with taking a tokenistic approach”, she stated, “is that it often means that Black History Month evolves into a fleeting performance rather than a driver of transformation.”
Reevaluating, Not Abandoning
Figuring out how to adjust, modify and expand actions for equal rights and acknowledgment in such times of discouragement and concern is a difficult task. There is a temptation to just eliminate things like Black History Month altogether, thinking they are inadequate for current needs, or are remnants of an time that has failed to deliver.
Yet, in spite of all this, Black History Month, and in fact the whole broad system and heritage of activism for racial justice – community-based BLM initiatives, inclusion and equity efforts, and indeed, including corporate presentations – represent an infrastructure that a considerable labor has been invested in. 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 contemporary active Black History Month seem? Firstly, it would be more than a single focused period: something that is dispersed across all seasons (as some institutions are already commencing), elements of its material (particularly around historic Black characters) included in academic syllabi. It would also be a period that does not evade governmental matters, and allows opportunity for individuals, particularly the younger generation, to air their fears and experiences. What use is basic knowledge of the past when it fails to address the present reality of ultra-nationalist gatherings in the public spaces? Establishments who celebrate it should not be reassured with the non-confrontational words of implicit prejudice and awareness of subtle slights, but faced with the threats that face all if fight against prejudice is not taken seriously. To summarize, Black History Month should be made contemporary, critical, and reactive. Perhaps an total re-identification is necessary – Contemporary Black History Month.
