Black History Month serves as a mirror of the prevailing political atmosphere, so what steps can we take to refresh it?
This is Black History Month in the United Kingdom, and it appears it’s time for a rethink. As time has passed, an celebration that began as a commemorative event of history, culture and the connections between international African diaspora communities, has adopted a corporate feel, growing to encompass events where Black people are paid to speak with predominantly white listeners about “unconscious bias” and “allyship”. The demonstrations for racial justice in the 2020s sparked an increase in the enterprise of displaying cultural sensitivity. However, that period has concluded. The surge has peaked, resulting in a somewhat empty inheritance 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 African American historian Carter G. Woodson with a week of remembrance and recognition in the February's second week. Black History Month grew out of this movement and was formally inaugurated in 1970. Currently it is marked not only in the North America in the second month, but also in October in the United Kingdom, Germany, the Republic of Ireland and the Netherlands.
The observance has transformed since those days, giving reduced attention to the narratives of colonial slavery and civil rights battles, and more on influential individuals of color in public life, creative fields, and advocacy, and broadly celebrating the contribution Black people have made to shape the country. It is in educational institutions where Black History Month is most frequently marked, with talks and cultural events. But the way the celebration is observed is a manifestation of the political moment. How it progresses is a instructive case in how assimilation leads to weakening: the transformation of Black History Month has stymied the objective of it, which is to tackle embedded and established prejudice.
A Troubling Time
Hardly anything shows how critical it is to rethink Black History Month more than the current time in which it falls this year. In the Britain, a reemerging right-wing in the form of the Reform party is leading the polls. In the recent season we saw the most significant ultra-conservative gathering in the history of Britain. a prominent political figure, the person of color at the helm of the Conservative party, is a staunch adversary of the racial justice movement, and we are in a place where a legislator feels emboldened to declare that “not seeing any white faces” in certain urban areas is a cause for alarm. Simultaneously, extreme conservative groups are expanding in the European continent as a whole.
In the America, a massive attack against DEI and affirmative action has been taken, repeatedly with positive outcomes, to the supreme judicial bodies of the nation. A drive to scrub Black history and narrative from the records is ongoing. One of the former president's early administrative commands targeted the museum of African American legacy, and the renowned cultural organization, claiming they of a “concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation’s history” by representing the nation “as fundamentally prejudiced”.
Given these circumstances, the month symbolises how minimally it can be effective if it is restricted to either obligatory business commemorations, or depoliticized commemorations of historical achievements, rather than confronting the situation of the contemporary world. It also demonstrates how its short period means that it is detached from the broader ongoing work that is required. An academic expert, a prof at a learning establishment, expressed it perfectly when she raised concerns about the fleeting superficial actions of the observance. “The difficulty with adopting a symbolic stance”, she wrote, “is that it frequently results in that Black History Month becomes a transient display rather than a agent of progress.”
Reevaluating, Not Abandoning
Figuring out how to adapt, revise and extend initiatives for racial equality and recognition in such periods of dismay and anxiety is a challenging endeavor. There is a inclination to just do away with events including Black History Month completely, thinking they are simply not fit for purpose, or are relics of an time that has failed to deliver.
Yet, in spite of all this, Black History Month, and in fact the entire extended network and legacy of racial movements – community-based BLM initiatives, inclusion and equity efforts, and yes, even those talks to businesses – constitute an foundation that a considerable labor has gone into. It is there not only to deteriorate as the political landscape shifts (and in fact, declines), but to be a vital organism.
So what would a new dynamic Black History Month appear as? Firstly, it would be extended beyond a brief observance: something that is dispersed throughout the annual calendar (as some institutions are already starting to implement), parts of its content (particularly around historic Black characters) incorporated into school curriculums. It would also be a period that does not evade politics, and provides room for citizens, particularly the younger generation, to express their concerns and stories. What use is mere awareness of the bygone era when it doesn’t reckon with the present reality of ultra-nationalist gatherings in the urban areas? Institutions who celebrate it should not be reassured with the passive language of implicit prejudice and alertness to “microaggressions”, but challenged by the dangers that face all if opposition to discrimination is not treated with importance. In short, Black History Month should be made up-to-date, critical, and reactive. Perhaps an entire name rebrand is in order – Present-Day African Heritage Celebration.
