Black History Month acts as a gauge of the current political climate, so in what ways can we modernize it?
We are in Black History Month in the UK, and it seems it’s time for a reassessment. Throughout its history, an observance that began as a commemorative event of history, culture and the connections between global Black communities, has taken on a business-like atmosphere, growing to encompass events where Black people are paid to speak with predominantly white listeners about “unconscious bias” and “allyship”. The anti-racism rallies of the last decade sparked an increase in the enterprise of showcasing anti-racist commitment. But even that moment has passed. The surge has reached its height, producing a diluted aftermath of what increasing understanding is for.
The Origins of Black History Month
Initially celebrated in the America and its northern neighbor, Black History Month was created in 1962 as an observance of African American heritage by historian of African descent Carter G. Woodson with seven days of commemoration and observance in the middle of February. 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 the tenth month in the Britain, Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands.
The period has developed since that time, focusing less on the narratives of the slave trade across the Atlantic and civil rights battles, and greater focus on prominent Black figures in government, the arts, and social movements, and extensively acknowledging the input Black people have made to shape the country. It is in educational institutions where Black History Month is most commonly celebrated, with discussions and heritage festivities. But the method the observance is observed is a indication of the current political situation. How it develops is a valuable example in how appropriation leads to erosion: the restructuring of Black History Month has stymied the objective of it, which is to confront systemic and institutional racism.
A Disconcerting Period
Few things illustrate how crucial it is to rethink Black History Month better than the particular moment in which it falls this year. In the Britain, a reemerging right-wing in the shape of the Reform party is top in opinion ratings. In the warmer months we saw the most significant ultra-conservative gathering in the UK's past. a prominent political figure, the person of color at the helm of the Tory party, is a staunch adversary of anti-racism activism, and we are in a place where a legislator feels emboldened to say that a lack of white people in specific city neighborhoods is a cause for alarm. At the same time, ultra-nationalist movements are growing in the EU as a whole.
In the US, a colossal assault against inclusion programs and preferential policies has been taken, repeatedly with positive outcomes, to the supreme judicial bodies of the state. A campaign to erase African American heritage and narrative from the archives is under way. One of Donald Trump's early administrative commands focused on the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the Smithsonian Institution, accusing them of a “concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation’s history” by representing the nation “as fundamentally prejudiced”.
Given these circumstances, the month symbolises how minimally it can be effective if it is limited to either routine organizational acknowledgments, or stripped of political content celebrations of historical achievements, rather than addressing the conditions of the present. It also shows how its short period means that it is disconnected from the broader ongoing work that is necessary. An academic expert, a professor at University of Greenwich, put it best when she voiced worries about the short-term symbolic gestures of the month. “The issue with embracing a superficial method”, she wrote, “is that it often means that Black History Month turns into a transient display rather than a driver of transformation.”
Reconsidering, Not Discarding
Determining how to adapt, revise and extend initiatives for fair treatment and appreciation in such periods of dismay and anxiety is a difficult task. There is a urge to just do away with things like Black History Month entirely, believing they are simply not fit for purpose, or are remnants of an time that has been ineffective.
However, regardless of the situation, Black History Month, and in fact the entire extended network and heritage of activism for racial justice – grassroots Black Lives Matter organisations, DEI programs, and indeed, including corporate presentations – represent an foundation that a considerable labor has been dedicated to. It is there not only to deteriorate as the political landscape shifts (and in fact, regresses), but to be a vital organism.
So what would a new dynamic Black History Month appear as? Well, first, it would be extended beyond a brief observance: something that is dispersed through the year (as various establishments are already beginning to do), elements of its material (particularly around prominent figures of color) incorporated into academic syllabi. It would also be a era that does not evade governmental matters, and provides room for citizens, particularly the younger generation, to express their concerns and stories. What value has basic knowledge of the past when it doesn’t reckon with the present reality of far-right rallies in the street? Organizations who celebrate it should not be reassured with the neutral terminology of “unconscious bias” and alertness to minor insults, but challenged by the risks that affect everyone if opposition to discrimination is not approached earnestly. To summarize, Black History Month should be made contemporary, critical, and reactive. Perhaps an entire name rebrand is required – Present-Day African Heritage Celebration.
