🔗 Share this article

It's Black History Month in the Britain, and it seems it’s time for a rethink. Throughout its history, an observance that began as a celebration and reminder of history, culture and the connections between Black populations worldwide, has taken on a business-like atmosphere, growing to encompass gatherings where individuals of African heritage are remunerated to talk to predominantly white listeners about hidden biases and active solidarity. The anti-racism rallies of the last decade generated a rise in the industry of displaying cultural sensitivity. But even that moment has passed. The wave has peaked, resulting in a somewhat empty inheritance of what raising awareness is for.

The History of Black History Observance

First commemorated in the United States and Canada, Black History Month was created in 1962 as a week dedicated to Negro history by African American historian Carter G. Woodson with a week of celebration and reflection in the middle of February. Black History Month grew out of this movement and was formally inaugurated in 1970. Today it is observed not only in the United States and Canada in February, but also in autumn in the United Kingdom, Deutschland, Éire and the the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The observance has developed since those days, placing less emphasis on the accounts of colonial slavery and struggles for equality, and more on prominent Black figures in public life, creative fields, and advocacy, and widely honoring the input Black people have made to influence the nation. It is in learning environments where Black History Month is most regularly observed, with discussions and heritage festivities. But the manner the observance is observed is a indication of the political moment. How it develops is a valuable example in how appropriation leads to erosion: the reshaping of Black History Month has stymied the purpose of it, which is to address structural and organizational discrimination.

---

A Disconcerting Period

Hardly anything shows how critical it is to reconsider Black History Month better than the specific period in which it occurs this year. In the Britain, a revitalized conservative movement in the guise of the Reform party is ahead in surveys. In the warmer months we witnessed the largest far-right rally in the history of Britain. Kemi Badenoch, the African descendant in charge of the right-wing political group, is a strong critic of anti-racism activism, and we are in a situation where a member of parliament feels emboldened to declare 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 European continent as a complete entity.

In the US, a massive attack against inclusion programs and preferential policies has been taken, frequently with success, to the top legal institutions of the country. A effort to scrub African American heritage and experience from the historical documents is under way. One of the former president's early administrative commands aimed at the museum of African American legacy, and the Smithsonian Institution, accusing them of a “concerted and widespread effort to change the national past” by portraying America “as fundamentally prejudiced”.

In this context, the celebration represents how minimally it can be influential if it is restricted to either obligatory business commemorations, or stripped of political content festivities of contributions in the past, rather than addressing the realities of the contemporary world. It also demonstrates how its short period means that it is detached from the broader ongoing work that is required. Denise Miller, a professor at an educational institution, put it best when she expressed apprehension about the fleeting superficial actions of the month. “The issue with adopting a symbolic stance”, she stated, “is that it frequently results in that Black History Month evolves into a fleeting performance rather than a agent of progress.”

---

Reconsidering, Not Discarding

Establishing how to adapt, revise and extend actions for equal rights and acknowledgment in such moments of dejection and worry is a treacherous thing. There is a inclination to just discontinue things like Black History Month completely, assuming they are inadequate for current needs, or are remnants of an era that has failed to deliver.

But despite everything, Black History Month, and in fact the whole broad system and legacy of campaigns for equality – community-based BLM initiatives, diversity equity and inclusion initiatives, and indeed, including corporate presentations – form an framework that a lot of work has gone into. It is there not just to decay as the politics moves on (and in fact, regresses), but to be a living breathing thing.

So what would a contemporary active Black History Month seem? Firstly, it would be more than a single focused period: something that is dispersed throughout the annual calendar (as some institutions are already beginning to do), sections of its curriculum (particularly around notable African descendants) included in school curriculums. It would also be a era that does not evade governmental matters, and provides room for people, particularly the younger generation, to express their concerns and stories. What use is basic knowledge of the past when it fails to address the contemporary truth of far-right rallies in the urban areas? Institutions who observe it should not be pacified with the neutral terminology of “unconscious bias” and sensitivity to “microaggressions”, but confronted with the dangers that face all if fight against prejudice is not taken seriously. To summarize, Black History Month should be made up-to-date, critical, and reactive. It could be that an entire name rebrand is in order – Black History is Now Month.