Black History Month acts as a gauge of the political moment, so what steps can we take to refresh it?
We are in Black History Month in the United Kingdom, and it appears it’s time for a re-evaluation. Over the years, an celebration that started out as a celebration and reminder of history, culture and the connections between global Black communities, has developed a corporate feel, expanding to include gatherings where Black people are paid to talk to Caucasian groups about “unconscious bias” and “allyship”. The anti-racism rallies of the last decade generated a rise in the enterprise of demonstrating racial awareness. Yet, that phase is now over. The surge has reached its height, leaving a sort of hollowed out legacy of what raising awareness is for.
The Background of Black History Observance
Initially celebrated in the US and Canada, Black History Month was created in 1962 as “Negro History Week” by Black scholar Carter G. Woodson with a week of celebration and reflection in the February's second week. Black History Month developed from this movement and was formally inaugurated in 1970. Currently it is marked not only in the US and Canada in February, but also in autumn in the Britain, Deutschland, the Republic of Ireland and the Netherlands.
The period has evolved since those days, giving reduced attention to the narratives of the slave trade across the Atlantic and civil rights battles, and more on influential individuals of color in politics, culture, and activism, and broadly celebrating the input Black people have made to shape the country. It is in learning environments where Black History Month is most frequently marked, with talks and cultural events. But the method the celebration is commemorated is a manifestation of the contemporary political context. How it evolves is a valuable example in how appropriation leads to weakening: the restructuring of Black History Month has hindered the point of it, which is to confront embedded and established prejudice.
A Troubling Time
Little demonstrates how critical it is to reconsider Black History Month more than the specific period in which it takes place this year. In the United Kingdom, a revitalized conservative movement in the guise of the Reform party is ahead in surveys. In the recent season we saw the most significant ultra-conservative gathering in the history of Britain. Kemi Badenoch, the person of color at the helm of the Tory party, is a firm opponent of Black Lives Matter, and we are in a position where a legislator gains confidence to declare that the absence of Caucasian individuals in certain urban areas is a cause for alarm. Meanwhile, ultra-nationalist movements are expanding in the European continent as a complete entity.
In the America, a massive attack against inclusion programs and preferential policies has been taken, frequently with success, to the supreme judicial bodies of the nation. A effort to remove Black history and legacy from the records is in progress. One of the political figure's early administrative commands aimed at the institution dedicated to Black heritage, and the prestigious establishment, claiming they of a organized and extensive campaign to change the national past” by representing the nation “as naturally discriminatory”.
Given these circumstances, the observance represents how insufficiently it can be impactful if it is restricted to either routine organizational acknowledgments, or depoliticized festivities of contributions in the past, rather than challenging the situation of the current era. It also demonstrates how its short period means that it is detached from the more extensive continuous action that is necessary. A university professor, a prof at a learning establishment, expressed it perfectly when she voiced worries about the temporary “tokenism” of the month. “The problem with adopting a symbolic stance”, she stated, “is that it typically leads to that Black History Month becomes a fleeting performance rather than a driver of transformation.”
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 temptation to just do away with observances such as Black History Month completely, believing they are no longer suitable, or are remnants of an period that has failed to deliver.
However, regardless of the situation, Black History Month, and in fact the entire extended network and legacy of activism for racial justice – grassroots Black Lives Matter organisations, diversity equity and inclusion initiatives, and indeed, including corporate presentations – represent an foundation that a lot of work has been dedicated to. It is there not just to decay as the situation evolves (and in fact, regresses), but to be a living breathing thing.
So what would a fresh vibrant Black History Month seem? Well, first, it would be not just one concentrated month: something that is distributed throughout the annual calendar (as various establishments are already beginning to do), elements of its material (particularly around historic Black characters) integrated into academic syllabi. It would also be a period that does not evade politics, and provides room for people, particularly young people, to share their anxieties and narratives. What value has basic knowledge of the history when it fails to address the current situation of far-right rallies in the public spaces? Establishments who mark it should not be reassured with the neutral terminology of hidden discrimination and awareness of “microaggressions”, but challenged by the dangers that affect everyone if opposition to discrimination is not treated with importance. To summarize, Black History Month should be made current, urgent, and responsive. Maybe an entire name rebrand is in order – Black History is Now Month.
