This commemorative month serves as a mirror of the current political climate, so how do we revamp it?
It's Black History Month in the Britain, and it appears it’s time for a rethink. Throughout its history, an observance that started out as a celebration and reminder of heritage, traditions and links between global Black communities, has adopted a business-like atmosphere, expanding to include gatherings where Black people are compensated to speak with predominantly white listeners about “unconscious bias” and active solidarity. The anti-racism rallies of the last decade generated a rise in the industry of demonstrating racial awareness. But even that moment has passed. The surge has peaked, resulting in a somewhat empty inheritance of what increasing understanding is for.
The History of Black History Month
Originally observed in the America and its northern neighbor, Black History Month was established in 1962 as “Negro History Week” by Black scholar Carter G. Woodson with seven days of commemoration and observance in the second week of February. Black History Month grew out of this movement and was publicly established in 1970. Today it is observed not only in the US and Canada in February, but also in October in the Britain, Deutschland, the Republic of Ireland and the the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
The observance has developed since that time, giving reduced attention to the histories of colonial slavery and struggles for equality, and more on notable African descendants in government, the arts, and social movements, and extensively acknowledging the impact Black people have made to influence the nation. It is in schools where Black History Month is most commonly celebrated, with discussions and heritage festivities. But the manner the month is observed is a reflection of the contemporary political context. How it develops is a valuable example in how co-option leads to erosion: the restructuring of Black History Month has stymied the point of it, which is to address embedded and established prejudice.
A Troubling Time
Hardly anything shows how critical it is to reconsider Black History Month better than the specific period in which it falls this year. In the United Kingdom, a reemerging right-wing in the guise of the Reform political group is ahead in surveys. In the warmer months we observed the largest far-right rally in the UK's past. Kemi Badenoch, the Black leader of the right-wing political group, is a staunch adversary of the racial justice movement, and we are in a situation where a member of parliament gains confidence to state that “not seeing any white faces” in specific city neighborhoods is a reason for concern. Simultaneously, extreme conservative groups are expanding in Europe as a entirety.
In the US, a massive attack against DEI and affirmative action has been carried, frequently with success, to the supreme judicial bodies of the nation. A effort to remove Black history and narrative from the archives is ongoing. One of Donald Trump's early administrative commands aimed at the museum of African American legacy, and the prestigious establishment, claiming they of a coordinated and broad attempt to change the national past” by portraying America “as naturally discriminatory”.
In this context, the month represents how minimally it can be effective if it is restricted to either dutiful corporate observances, or politically neutered festivities of former accomplishments, rather than addressing the conditions of the contemporary world. It also reveals how its limited duration means that it is disconnected from the broader ongoing work that is necessary. A university professor, a prof at a learning establishment, expressed it perfectly when she raised concerns about the temporary “tokenism” of the observance. “The problem with taking a tokenistic approach”, she wrote, “is that it typically leads to that Black History Month becomes a brief show rather than a catalyst for change.”
Reconsidering, Not Discarding
Determining how to alter, change and broaden efforts for fair treatment and appreciation in such periods of dismay and anxiety is a treacherous thing. There is a inclination to just do away with observances such as Black History Month altogether, believing they are no longer suitable, or are remnants of an time that has been ineffective.
But despite everything, Black History Month, and in fact the whole broad system and tradition of activism for racial justice – grassroots Black Lives Matter organisations, DEI programs, and indeed, including corporate presentations – constitute an framework that a lot of work has been dedicated to. It is there not merely to decline as the situation evolves (and in fact, declines), but to be a vital organism.
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 distributed through the year (as various establishments are already beginning to do), parts of its content (particularly around notable African descendants) incorporated into academic syllabi. It would also be a time that does not shy away from political issues, and allows opportunity for individuals, particularly the younger generation, to share their anxieties and narratives. What value has basic knowledge of the past when it fails to address the present reality of ultra-nationalist gatherings in the urban areas? Establishments who celebrate it should not be pacified with the passive language of implicit prejudice and alertness to subtle slights, but confronted with the risks that face all if opposition to discrimination is not treated with importance. Briefly stated, Black History Month should be made contemporary, pressing, and adaptive. Perhaps an total re-identification is necessary – Contemporary Black History Month.
