This commemorative month is a reflection of the current political climate, so what steps can we take to refresh it?
It's Black History Month in the Britain, and it feels like it’s time for a rethink. As time has passed, an observance that was initiated as a celebration and reminder of history, culture and the connections between Black populations worldwide, has developed a commercial tone, broadening to incorporate gatherings where individuals of African heritage are remunerated to speak with white audiences about “unconscious bias” and “allyship”. The demonstrations for racial justice in the 2020s generated a rise in the industry of demonstrating racial awareness. However, that period has concluded. The surge has reached its height, resulting in a somewhat empty inheritance of what promoting consciousness is for.
The Origins of Black History Celebration
Initially celebrated in the America and its northern neighbor, Black History Month was conceived in 1962 as an observance of African American heritage by African American historian Carter G. Woodson with multiple days of commemoration and observance in the second week of February. Black History Month developed from this initiative 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 United Kingdom, Germany, the Republic of Ireland and the the Kingdom of 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 greater focus on notable African descendants in government, the arts, and social movements, and extensively acknowledging the input Black people have made to mold society. It is in educational institutions where Black History Month is most commonly celebrated, with discussions and heritage festivities. But the way the observance is commemorated is a indication of the contemporary political context. How it develops is a good lesson in how assimilation leads to dismantling: the transformation of Black History Month has impeded the objective of it, which is to address systemic and institutional racism.
A Jarring Moment
Hardly anything shows how crucial it is to reconsider Black History Month more than the current time in which it occurs this year. In the United Kingdom, a reemerging right-wing in the form of the Reform political group is ahead in surveys. In the summer we saw the biggest extreme right demonstration in British history. the Conservative leader, the Black leader of the right-wing political group, is a firm opponent of the racial justice movement, and we are in a place where a elected representative gains confidence to say that the absence of Caucasian individuals in certain urban areas is a cause for alarm. Simultaneously, ultra-nationalist movements are surging in Europe as a entirety.
In the United States, a significant offensive against diversity initiatives and positive discrimination has been taken, repeatedly with positive outcomes, to the highest courts of the state. A campaign to scrub Black history and experience from the archives is in progress. One of Donald Trump's first executive orders 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 depicting the United States “as fundamentally prejudiced”.
In this context, the celebration illustrates how little it can be effective if it is restricted to either obligatory business commemorations, or depoliticized commemorations of historical achievements, rather than addressing the situation of the present. It also demonstrates how its limited duration means that it is disconnected from the wider consistent effort that is needed. A university professor, a educator at a learning establishment, articulated it most accurately when she expressed apprehension about the temporary “tokenism” of the observance. “The problem with embracing a superficial method”, she wrote, “is that it often means that Black History Month turns into a brief show rather than a driver of transformation.”
Reconsidering, Not Discarding
Figuring out how to alter, change and broaden actions for fair treatment and appreciation in such periods of dismay and anxiety is a treacherous thing. There is a temptation to just discontinue events including Black History Month completely, believing they are simply not fit for purpose, or are vestiges of an era that has been ineffective.
However, regardless of the situation, Black History Month, and in fact the entire extended network and heritage of campaigns for equality – grassroots Black Lives Matter organisations, inclusion and equity efforts, and indeed, including corporate presentations – constitute an infrastructure that a considerable labor has been dedicated to. It is there not just to decay as the politics moves on (and in fact, regresses), but to be a dynamic entity.
So what would a new dynamic Black History Month appear as? To begin with, it would be extended beyond a brief observance: something that is spread out across all seasons (as various establishments are already commencing), elements of its material (particularly around notable African descendants) integrated into academic syllabi. It would also be a era that does not avoid governmental matters, and leaves space for individuals, particularly youth, to air their fears and experiences. What value has simple recognition of the history when it doesn’t reckon with the contemporary truth of far-right rallies in the public spaces? Organizations who observe it should not be pacified with the neutral terminology of implicit prejudice and alertness to minor insults, but challenged by the dangers that face all if opposition to discrimination is not taken seriously. In short, Black History Month should be made current, pressing, and adaptive. Maybe an total re-identification is required – Contemporary Black History Month.
