Black History Month serves as a mirror of the current political climate, so how do we revamp it?
This is Black History Month in the Britain, and it seems it’s time for a re-evaluation. Throughout its history, an celebration that began as a commemorative event of history, culture and the connections between international African diaspora communities, has adopted a business-like atmosphere, growing to encompass gatherings where individuals of African heritage are compensated to talk to white audiences about implicit prejudice and supportive partnership. The demonstrations for racial justice in the 2020s created a surge in the industry of displaying cultural sensitivity. But even that moment has passed. The wave has peaked, producing a diluted aftermath of what raising awareness is for.
The History of Black History Month
First commemorated in the United States and Canada, Black History Month was established in 1962 as “Negro History Week” by Black scholar Carter G. Woodson with a week of celebration and reflection in the second week of February. Black History Month grew out of this movement and was publicly established in 1970. Now it is celebrated not only in the United States and Canada in winter, but also in the tenth month in the United Kingdom, Deutschland, Éire and the Holland.
The month has evolved since its inception, giving reduced attention to the accounts of the slave trade across the Atlantic and civil rights battles, and increasingly on influential individuals of color in politics, culture, and activism, and extensively acknowledging the contribution Black people have made to influence the nation. It is in educational institutions where Black History Month is most frequently marked, with discussions and heritage festivities. But the method the celebration is celebrated is a manifestation of the contemporary political context. How it evolves is a valuable example in how appropriation leads to weakening: the reshaping of Black History Month has stymied the purpose of it, which is to address systemic and institutional racism.
A Jarring Moment
Few things illustrate how critical it is to reevaluate Black History Month better than the particular moment in which it falls this year. In the UK, a resurgent right in the guise of the Reform party is leading the polls. In the warmer months we saw the most significant ultra-conservative gathering in British history. Kemi Badenoch, the person of color at the helm of the Tory party, is a firm opponent of the racial justice movement, and we are in a situation where a member of parliament feels emboldened to declare that “not seeing any white faces” in specific city neighborhoods is a cause for alarm. Meanwhile, ultra-nationalist movements are growing in the European continent as a entirety.
In the America, a significant offensive against DEI and affirmative action has been carried, often successfully, to the supreme judicial bodies of the nation. A campaign to scrub Black history and experience from the historical documents is ongoing. One of the political figure's early administrative commands aimed at the museum of African American legacy, and the renowned cultural organization, claiming they of a organized and extensive campaign to change the national past” by depicting the United States “as fundamentally prejudiced”.
Given these circumstances, the month represents how minimally it can be influential if it is limited to either dutiful corporate observances, or stripped of political content festivities of contributions in the past, rather than confronting the situation of the present. It also demonstrates how its short period means that it is disconnected from the more extensive continuous action that is necessary. Denise Miller, a educator at an educational institution, expressed it perfectly when she raised concerns about the temporary “tokenism” of the month. “The difficulty with embracing a superficial method”, she commented, “is that it typically leads to that Black History Month turns into a brief show rather than a catalyst for change.”
Reconsidering, Not Discarding
Figuring out how to adapt, revise and extend initiatives for racial equality and recognition in such moments of dejection and worry is a challenging endeavor. There is a inclination to just discontinue observances such as Black History Month altogether, assuming they are simply not fit for purpose, or are vestiges of an time that has been ineffective.
But despite everything, Black History Month, and in fact the entire extended network and legacy of racial movements – community-based BLM initiatives, inclusion and equity efforts, and certainly, even commercial engagements – constitute an infrastructure that a considerable labor has been invested in. It is there not just to decay as the politics moves on (and in fact, deteriorates), but to be a vital organism.
So what would a fresh vibrant Black History Month look like? To begin with, it would be more than a single focused period: something that is distributed throughout the annual calendar (as some institutions are already beginning to do), parts of its content (particularly around notable African descendants) integrated into academic syllabi. It would also be a time that does not evade politics, and provides room for people, particularly youth, to express their concerns and stories. What purpose serves simple recognition of the bygone era when it fails to address the contemporary truth of extreme conservative demonstrations in the public spaces? Institutions who observe it should not be comforted with the neutral terminology of implicit prejudice and awareness of subtle slights, but challenged by the threats that affect everyone if anti-racism is not taken seriously. Briefly stated, Black History Month should be made contemporary, pressing, and adaptive. It could be that an entire name rebrand is necessary – Contemporary Black History Month.
