This commemorative month is a reflection of the political moment, so what steps can we take to refresh it?
We are in Black History Month in the Britain, and it appears it’s time for a re-evaluation. Throughout its history, an celebration that began as a festivity and recollection of history, culture and the connections between global Black communities, has taken on a corporate feel, expanding to include functions where African descendants are remunerated to talk to Caucasian groups about “unconscious bias” and supportive partnership. The demonstrations for racial justice in the 2020s created a surge in the industry of displaying cultural sensitivity. However, that period has concluded. The tide has crested, leaving a sort of hollowed out legacy of what promoting consciousness is for.
The Origins of Black History Celebration
Originally observed in the US and Canada, Black History Month was conceived in 1962 as “Negro History Week” by Black scholar Carter G. Woodson with multiple days of commemoration and observance in the second week of February. Black History Month evolved from this initiative 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 United Kingdom, Deutschland, Éire and the Netherlands.
The period has evolved since its inception, placing less emphasis on the narratives of the slave trade across the Atlantic and fights for racial justice, and increasingly on notable African descendants in government, the arts, and social movements, and widely honoring the impact Black people have made to shape the country. It is in schools where Black History Month is most frequently marked, with talks and cultural events. But the manner the celebration is observed is a indication of the political moment. How it progresses is a instructive case in how appropriation leads to dismantling: the restructuring of Black History Month has hindered the objective of it, which is to confront structural and organizational discrimination.
A Troubling Time
Few things illustrate how critical it is to reconsider Black History Month better than the specific period in which it takes place this year. In the United Kingdom, a reemerging right-wing in the form of the Reform political group is top in opinion ratings. In the recent season we witnessed the largest far-right rally in British history. a prominent political figure, the Black leader of the Tory party, is a firm opponent of the racial justice movement, and we are in a place where a legislator feels emboldened to state that a lack of white people in parts of a city is a cause for alarm. At the same time, far-right parties are surging in the European continent as a complete entity.
In the United States, a massive attack against diversity initiatives and positive discrimination has been taken, repeatedly with positive outcomes, to the top legal institutions of the nation. A effort to erase the history of people of color and narrative from the archives is ongoing. One of the former president's first executive orders focused on the institution dedicated to Black heritage, and the Smithsonian Institution, alleging that they of a coordinated and broad attempt to alter the country's historical narrative” by representing the nation “as inherently racist”.
Given these circumstances, the month illustrates how insufficiently it can be effective if it is confined to either dutiful corporate observances, or politically neutered festivities of contributions in the past, rather than addressing the conditions of the present. It also reveals how its limited duration means that it is disconnected from the broader ongoing work that is required. A university professor, a educator at an educational institution, expressed it perfectly when she raised concerns about the short-term symbolic gestures of the celebration. “The issue with adopting a symbolic stance”, she wrote, “is that it often means that Black History Month becomes a fleeting performance rather than a driver of transformation.”
Rethinking, But Not Jettisoning
Determining how to adjust, modify and expand initiatives for racial equality and recognition in such moments of dejection and worry is a challenging endeavor. There is a temptation to just eliminate observances such as Black History Month completely, assuming they are inadequate for current needs, or are remnants of an period that has not worked.
However, regardless of the situation, Black History Month, and in fact the whole broad system and heritage of racial movements – community-based BLM initiatives, diversity equity and inclusion initiatives, and indeed, including corporate presentations – constitute an framework that a significant effort has been invested in. It is there not only to deteriorate as the politics moves on (and in fact, deteriorates), but to be a dynamic entity.
So what would a fresh vibrant Black History Month appear as? Well, first, it would be more than a single focused period: something that is dispersed across all seasons (as various establishments are already beginning to do), parts of its content (particularly around historic Black characters) integrated into school curriculums. It would also be a time that does not evade political issues, and leaves space for people, particularly youth, to air their fears and experiences. What use is mere awareness of the bygone era when it doesn’t reckon with the present reality of ultra-nationalist gatherings in the street? Organizations who celebrate it should not be comforted with the passive language of hidden discrimination and sensitivity to “microaggressions”, but confronted with the dangers that face all if opposition to discrimination is not approached earnestly. In short, Black History Month should be made contemporary, critical, and reactive. Maybe an complete renaming is necessary – Contemporary Black History Month.
