Black History Month is a reflection of the current political climate, so how do we revamp it?
It's Black History Month in the UK, and it seems it’s time for a reassessment. Throughout its history, an celebration that began as a celebration and reminder of history, culture and the connections between global Black communities, has taken on a business-like atmosphere, broadening to incorporate events where individuals of African heritage are remunerated to address predominantly white listeners about “unconscious bias” and active solidarity. The 2020s Black Lives Matter protests sparked an increase in the industry of demonstrating racial awareness. However, that period has concluded. The wave has peaked, resulting in a somewhat empty inheritance of what raising awareness is for.
The History of Black History Celebration
Initially celebrated in the United States and Canada, Black History Month was created in 1962 as a week dedicated to Negro history by historian of African descent Carter G. Woodson with a week of celebration and reflection in the February's second week. Black History Month grew out of this initiative and was officially launched in 1970. Today it is observed not only in the US and Canada in the second month, but also in autumn in the Britain, the Federal Republic of Germany, Éire and the the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
The month has evolved since those days, placing less emphasis on the narratives of colonial slavery and fights for racial justice, and greater focus on prominent Black figures in politics, culture, and activism, and extensively acknowledging the impact Black people have made to shape the country. It is in learning environments where Black History Month is most commonly celebrated, with lectures and artistic activities. But the way the celebration is observed is a manifestation of the current political situation. How it develops is a instructive case in how assimilation leads to dismantling: the transformation of Black History Month has hindered the point of it, which is to confront embedded and established prejudice.
A Disconcerting Period
Few things illustrate how critical it is to rethink Black History Month more than the particular moment in which it falls this year. In the UK, a reemerging right-wing in the form of the Reform organization is top in opinion ratings. In the warmer months we witnessed the biggest extreme right demonstration in the UK's past. a prominent political figure, the Black leader of the right-wing political group, is a staunch adversary of Black Lives Matter, and we are in a place where a member of parliament gains confidence to say that a lack of white people in certain urban areas is a cause for alarm. Simultaneously, far-right parties are surging in the EU as a whole.
In the United States, a significant offensive against diversity initiatives and positive discrimination has been brought, often successfully, to the supreme judicial bodies of the state. A campaign to remove the history of people of color and legacy from the records is ongoing. One of the political figure's first executive orders targeted the museum of African American legacy, and the prestigious establishment, claiming they of a “concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation’s history” by representing the nation “as naturally discriminatory”.
Against this backdrop, the observance illustrates how minimally it can be influential if it is confined to either dutiful corporate observances, or stripped of political content festivities of former accomplishments, rather than addressing the situation of the contemporary world. It also demonstrates how its restricted time span means that it is disconnected from the wider consistent effort that is needed. An academic expert, a prof at University of Greenwich, put it best when she expressed apprehension about the temporary “tokenism” of the celebration. “The problem with taking a tokenistic approach”, she wrote, “is that it often means that Black History Month becomes a fleeting performance rather than a driver of transformation.”
Rethinking, But Not Jettisoning
Figuring out how to adapt, revise and extend initiatives for racial equality and recognition in such times of discouragement and concern is a treacherous thing. There is a temptation to just do away with observances such as Black History Month completely, believing they are simply not fit for purpose, or are relics of an era that has been ineffective.
Yet, in spite of all this, Black History Month, and in fact the complete comprehensive structure and heritage of racial movements – community-based BLM initiatives, DEI programs, and indeed, including corporate presentations – constitute an foundation 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 dynamic entity.
So what would a contemporary active Black History Month appear as? Firstly, it would be extended beyond a brief observance: something that is spread out throughout the annual calendar (as some institutions are already starting to implement), elements of its material (particularly around historic Black characters) included in educational programs. It would also be a period that does not evade political issues, and allows opportunity for individuals, particularly young people, to express their concerns and stories. What purpose serves simple recognition of the bygone era when it ignores the present reality of ultra-nationalist gatherings in the street? Organizations who observe it should not be reassured with the non-confrontational words of implicit prejudice and awareness of “microaggressions”, but challenged by the threats that face all if anti-racism is not taken seriously. Briefly stated, Black History Month should be made current, urgent, and adaptive. It could be that an total re-identification is necessary – Black History is Now Month.
