🔗 Share this article

This is Black History Month in the UK, and it appears it’s time for a re-evaluation. Throughout its history, an event that was initiated as a celebration and reminder of history, culture and the connections between international African diaspora communities, has developed a business-like atmosphere, expanding to include gatherings where individuals of African heritage are compensated to talk to predominantly white listeners about implicit prejudice and “allyship”. The 2020s Black Lives Matter protests generated a rise in the enterprise of demonstrating racial awareness. However, that period has concluded. The tide has reached its height, producing a diluted aftermath of what increasing understanding is for.

The Background of Black History Celebration

Originally observed in the United States and Canada, Black History Month was established in 1962 as an observance of African American heritage by historian of African descent Carter G. Woodson with a week of commemoration and observance in the middle of February. Black History Month evolved from this campaign and was formally inaugurated in 1970. Today it is observed not only in the North America in February, but also in October in the United Kingdom, Deutschland, the Republic of Ireland and the the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The observance has developed since its inception, giving reduced attention to the histories of transatlantic enslavement and struggles for equality, and greater focus on prominent Black figures in public life, creative fields, and advocacy, and extensively acknowledging the input Black people have made to influence the nation. It is in schools where Black History Month is most regularly observed, with lectures and artistic activities. But the method the month is observed is a manifestation of the contemporary political context. How it develops is a valuable example in how appropriation leads to weakening: the reshaping of Black History Month has hindered the objective of it, which is to address systemic and institutional racism.

---

A Disconcerting Period

Few things illustrate how important it is to reevaluate Black History Month better than the current time in which it occurs this year. In the Britain, a resurgent right in the shape of the Reform organization is ahead in surveys. In the recent season we observed the most significant ultra-conservative gathering in the history of Britain. a prominent political figure, the Black leader of the Conservative party, is a staunch adversary of the racial justice movement, and we are in a position where a legislator feels emboldened to say that “not seeing any white faces” in certain urban areas is a reason for concern. Simultaneously, ultra-nationalist movements are expanding in the European continent as a whole.

In the US, a massive attack against DEI and affirmative action has been brought, repeatedly with positive outcomes, to the highest courts of the state. A effort to erase the history of people of color and narrative from the archives is under way. One of Donald Trump's first executive orders focused on the museum of African American legacy, and the renowned cultural organization, accusing them of a “concerted and widespread effort to change the national past” by portraying America “as naturally discriminatory”.

Given these circumstances, the month illustrates how little it can be influential if it is restricted to either routine organizational acknowledgments, or depoliticized commemorations of former accomplishments, rather than addressing the conditions of the current era. It also reveals how its short period means that it is detached from the broader ongoing work that is required. A university professor, a professor at a learning establishment, articulated it most accurately when she raised concerns about the short-term symbolic gestures of the observance. “The issue with taking a tokenistic approach”, she wrote, “is that it typically leads to that Black History Month evolves into a brief show rather than a catalyst for change.”

---

Reconsidering, Not Discarding

Figuring out how to adjust, modify and expand initiatives for fair treatment and appreciation in such periods of dismay and anxiety is a challenging endeavor. There is a inclination to just eliminate things like Black History Month entirely, believing they are simply not fit for purpose, or are remnants of an time that has failed to deliver.

But despite everything, Black History Month, and in fact the whole broad system and legacy of racial movements – local anti-racism groups, inclusion and equity efforts, and certainly, even commercial engagements – form an infrastructure that a significant effort has gone into. It is there not just to decay as the political landscape shifts (and in fact, deteriorates), 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 certain organizations are already beginning to do), elements of its material (particularly around prominent figures of color) integrated into school curriculums. It would also be a era that does not shy away from political issues, and allows opportunity for individuals, particularly young people, to share their anxieties and narratives. What use is basic knowledge of the past when it ignores the present reality of far-right rallies in the urban areas? Organizations who celebrate it should not be pacified with the neutral terminology of implicit prejudice and sensitivity to “microaggressions”, but confronted with the risks that affect everyone if anti-racism is not taken seriously. To summarize, Black History Month should be made current, urgent, and responsive. Maybe an entire name rebrand is required – Present-Day African Heritage Celebration.