Black History Month is a reflection of the current political climate, so what steps can we take to refresh it?
This is Black History Month in the United Kingdom, and it seems it’s time for a reassessment. Over the years, an event that started out as a festivity and recollection of history, culture and the connections between global Black communities, has adopted a corporate feel, broadening to incorporate events where African descendants are remunerated to speak with white audiences about “unconscious bias” and active solidarity. The demonstrations for racial justice in the 2020s created a surge in the industry of demonstrating racial awareness. Yet, that phase is now over. The tide has crested, leaving a sort of hollowed out legacy of what promoting consciousness is for.
The Background of Black History Month
First commemorated in the United States and Canada, Black History Month was conceived in 1962 as an observance of African American heritage by historian of African descent Carter G. Woodson with multiple days of commemoration and observance in the second week of February. Black History Month grew out of this campaign and was publicly established in 1970. Currently it is marked not only in the US and Canada in February, but also in autumn in the United Kingdom, Deutschland, Éire and the the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
The observance has transformed since that time, placing less emphasis on the histories of transatlantic enslavement and civil rights battles, and increasingly on notable African descendants in politics, culture, and activism, and broadly celebrating the impact Black people have made to shape the country. It is in schools where Black History Month is most frequently marked, with lectures and artistic activities. But the method the month is observed is a reflection of the current political situation. How it evolves is a good lesson in how appropriation leads to dismantling: the transformation of Black History Month has stymied the point of it, which is to confront embedded and established prejudice.
A Jarring Moment
Little demonstrates how crucial it is to rethink Black History Month more than the specific period in which it takes place this year. In the United Kingdom, a resurgent right in the shape of the Reform organization is ahead in surveys. In the warmer months we saw the biggest extreme right demonstration in British history. Kemi Badenoch, the African descendant in charge of the Conservative party, is a strong critic of Black Lives Matter, and we are in a place where a elected representative feels emboldened to say that the absence of Caucasian individuals in certain urban areas is a source of worry. 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 inclusion programs and preferential policies has been carried, often successfully, to the highest courts of the state. A effort to erase Black history and narrative from the historical documents is in progress. One of the former president's initial presidential directives focused on the museum of African American legacy, and the prestigious establishment, alleging that they of a organized and extensive campaign to alter the country's historical narrative” by depicting the United States “as fundamentally prejudiced”.
Against this backdrop, the celebration illustrates how insufficiently it can be impactful if it is restricted to either routine organizational acknowledgments, or politically neutered festivities of former accomplishments, rather than addressing the conditions of the current era. It also demonstrates how its restricted time span means that it is separated from the broader ongoing work that is required. A university professor, a educator at University of Greenwich, articulated it most accurately when she raised concerns about the short-term symbolic gestures of the celebration. “The problem with adopting a symbolic stance”, she wrote, “is that it typically leads to that Black History Month turns into a transient display rather than a agent of progress.”
Reevaluating, Not Abandoning
Determining how to adjust, modify and expand efforts for racial equality and recognition in such periods of dismay and anxiety is a treacherous thing. There is a urge to just discontinue events including Black History Month altogether, believing they are simply not fit for purpose, or are remnants of an era that has not worked.
Yet, in spite of all this, Black History Month, and in fact the entire extended network and tradition of campaigns for equality – grassroots Black Lives Matter organisations, DEI programs, and certainly, even commercial engagements – form an framework that a considerable labor has been invested in. 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 look like? Firstly, it would be extended beyond a brief observance: something that is dispersed across all seasons (as some institutions are already beginning to do), sections of its curriculum (particularly around historic Black characters) included in school curriculums. It would also be a time that does not avoid governmental matters, and provides room for individuals, particularly the younger generation, to air their fears and experiences. What purpose serves mere awareness of the history when it ignores the contemporary truth of far-right rallies in the street? Establishments who mark it should not be pacified with the neutral terminology of “unconscious bias” and alertness to subtle slights, but challenged by the dangers that face all if fight against prejudice is not taken seriously. In short, Black History Month should be made contemporary, urgent, and responsive. Maybe an entire name rebrand is required – Present-Day African Heritage Celebration.
