The annual Black History observance acts as a gauge of the current political climate, so what steps can we take to refresh it?

We are in Black History Month in the UK, and it appears it’s time for a reassessment. Over the years, an observance that started out as a festivity and recollection of history, culture and the connections between international African diaspora communities, has developed a business-like atmosphere, expanding to include functions where Black people are compensated to address Caucasian groups about hidden biases and supportive partnership. The anti-racism rallies of the last decade generated a rise in the business of showcasing anti-racist commitment. Yet, that phase is now over. The wave has reached its height, producing a diluted aftermath of what increasing understanding is for.

The Origins of Black History Month

First commemorated in the United States and Canada, Black History Month was conceived in 1962 as “Negro History Week” by historian of African descent Carter G. Woodson with a week of celebration and reflection in the second week of February. Black History Month evolved from this movement and was formally inaugurated in 1970. Currently it is marked not only in the US and Canada in February, but also in the tenth month in the UK, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Republic of Ireland and the the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The period has evolved since those days, placing less emphasis on the histories of transatlantic enslavement and fights for racial justice, and increasingly on influential individuals of color in public life, creative fields, and advocacy, and widely honoring the impact Black people have made to influence the nation. It is in educational institutions where Black History Month is most regularly observed, with lectures and artistic activities. But the way the celebration is celebrated is a manifestation of the contemporary political context. How it evolves is a valuable example in how co-option leads to erosion: the restructuring of Black History Month has impeded the objective of it, which is to confront embedded and established prejudice.

A Disconcerting Period

Hardly anything shows how crucial it is to rethink Black History Month more than the current time in which it falls this year. In the Britain, a resurgent right in the guise of the Reform party is top in opinion ratings. In the summer we witnessed the most significant ultra-conservative gathering in the history of Britain. the Conservative leader, the person of color at the helm of the right-wing political group, is a strong critic of Black Lives Matter, and we are in a situation where a member of parliament feels empowered to declare that “not seeing any white faces” in specific city neighborhoods is a cause for alarm. Meanwhile, extreme conservative groups are growing in the EU as a entirety.

In the US, a colossal assault against inclusion programs and preferential policies has been taken, repeatedly with positive outcomes, to the highest courts of the country. A drive to scrub Black history and legacy from the archives is ongoing. One of the political figure's early administrative commands focused on the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the prestigious establishment, alleging that they of a organized and extensive campaign to change the national past” by depicting the United States “as fundamentally prejudiced”.

Against this backdrop, the observance represents how insufficiently it can be effective if it is confined to either dutiful corporate observances, or depoliticized festivities of former accomplishments, rather than confronting the realities of the present. It also reveals how its restricted time span means that it is detached from the wider consistent effort that is required. An academic expert, a prof at a learning establishment, expressed it perfectly when she raised concerns about the short-term symbolic gestures of the observance. “The issue with adopting a symbolic stance”, she wrote, “is that it typically leads to that Black History Month turns into a brief show rather than a agent of progress.”

Reconsidering, Not Discarding

Establishing how to adapt, revise and extend efforts for equal rights and acknowledgment in such times of discouragement and concern is a difficult task. There is a temptation to just eliminate events including Black History Month altogether, believing they are simply not fit for purpose, or are relics of an time that has been ineffective.

Yet, in spite of all this, Black History Month, and in fact the whole broad system and heritage of activism for racial justice – community-based BLM initiatives, DEI programs, and certainly, even commercial engagements – represent an framework that a lot of work has been invested in. It is there not merely to decline as the politics moves on (and in fact, deteriorates), but to be a vital organism.

So what would a new dynamic Black History Month look like? To begin with, it would be more than a single focused period: something that is spread out through the year (as some institutions are already commencing), parts of its content (particularly around historic Black characters) included in school curriculums. It would also be a period that does not shy away from politics, and leaves space for people, particularly young people, to express their concerns and stories. What purpose serves basic knowledge of the past when it ignores the present reality of ultra-nationalist gatherings in the public spaces? Organizations who mark it should not be pacified with the passive language of implicit prejudice and awareness of “microaggressions”, but confronted with the dangers that face all if opposition to discrimination is not treated with importance. To summarize, Black History Month should be made current, pressing, and responsive. Perhaps an complete renaming is in order – Contemporary Black History Month.