The annual Black History observance is a reflection of the current political climate, so in what ways can we modernize it?
This is Black History Month in the Britain, and it feels like it’s time for a rethink. As time has passed, an event that began as a celebration and reminder of the past, cultural identity and bonds between international African diaspora communities, has developed a corporate feel, expanding to include functions where Black people are remunerated to talk to white audiences about “unconscious bias” and supportive partnership. The demonstrations for racial justice in the 2020s sparked an increase in the industry of demonstrating racial awareness. However, that period has concluded. The tide has reached its height, leaving a sort of hollowed out legacy of what increasing understanding is for.
The Origins of Black History Month
Initially celebrated in the US and Canada, Black History Month was conceived in 1962 as “Negro History Week” by historian of African descent Carter G. Woodson with multiple days of remembrance and recognition in the February's second week. Black History Month grew out of this initiative and was publicly established in 1970. Currently it is marked not only in the US and Canada in February, but also in October in the United Kingdom, Deutschland, Éire and the Holland.
The observance has evolved since that time, giving reduced attention to the narratives of the slave trade across the Atlantic and civil rights battles, and more on notable African descendants 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 lectures and artistic activities. But the method the observance is commemorated is a indication of the political moment. How it develops is a good lesson in how co-option leads to weakening: the restructuring of Black History Month has hindered the purpose of it, which is to tackle embedded and established prejudice.
A Disconcerting Period
Hardly anything shows how important it is to reconsider Black History Month better than the current time in which it occurs this year. In the United Kingdom, a resurgent right in the guise of the Reform political group is leading the polls. In the summer we observed the largest far-right rally in British history. Kemi Badenoch, the African descendant in charge of the right-wing political group, is a staunch adversary of anti-racism activism, and we are in a position where a legislator feels emboldened to say that “not seeing any white faces” in certain urban areas is a cause for alarm. At the same time, far-right parties are surging in the EU as a entirety.
In the America, a colossal assault against DEI and affirmative action has been brought, often successfully, to the supreme judicial bodies of the country. A campaign to erase the history of people of color and legacy from the records is ongoing. One of the former president's initial presidential directives focused on the museum of African American legacy, and the prestigious establishment, accusing them of a “concerted and widespread effort to alter the country's historical narrative” by depicting the United States “as fundamentally prejudiced”.
Given these circumstances, the month illustrates how minimally it can be effective if it is confined to either dutiful corporate observances, or depoliticized festivities of contributions in the past, rather than challenging the situation of the present. It also reveals how its limited duration means that it is detached from the more extensive continuous action that is required. An academic expert, a prof at an educational institution, put it best when she expressed apprehension about the short-term symbolic gestures of the celebration. “The issue with taking a tokenistic approach”, she commented, “is that it typically leads to that Black History Month becomes a brief show rather than a driver of transformation.”
Reevaluating, Not Abandoning
Determining how to adapt, revise and extend efforts for equal rights and acknowledgment in such times of discouragement and concern is a treacherous thing. There is a urge to just eliminate events including Black History Month completely, believing they are no longer suitable, or are vestiges of an time 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 – community-based BLM initiatives, inclusion and equity efforts, and certainly, even commercial engagements – constitute an infrastructure that a significant effort has gone into. It is there not only to deteriorate as the situation evolves (and in fact, declines), but to be a dynamic entity.
So what would a fresh vibrant Black History Month seem? Well, first, it would be extended beyond a brief observance: something that is dispersed through the year (as various establishments are already commencing), sections of its curriculum (particularly around notable African descendants) integrated into school curriculums. It would also be a time that does not evade governmental matters, and leaves space for individuals, particularly the younger generation, to share their anxieties and narratives. What value has simple recognition of the history when it ignores the contemporary truth of extreme conservative demonstrations in the public spaces? Institutions who mark it should not be comforted with the neutral terminology of hidden discrimination and sensitivity to subtle slights, but confronted with the dangers that face all if opposition to discrimination is not treated with importance. Briefly stated, Black History Month should be made contemporary, critical, and reactive. It could be that an total re-identification is in order – Black History is Now Month.
