The annual Black History observance serves as a mirror of the political moment, so how do we revamp it?
We are in Black History Month in the Britain, and it seems it’s time for a re-evaluation. As time has passed, an celebration that began as a festivity and recollection of history, culture and the connections between global Black communities, has adopted a commercial tone, growing to encompass gatherings where African descendants are compensated to speak with Caucasian groups about hidden biases and supportive partnership. The 2020s Black Lives Matter protests generated a rise in the industry of displaying cultural sensitivity. However, that period has concluded. The surge has crested, resulting in a somewhat empty inheritance of what promoting consciousness is for.
The Background of Black History Month
Originally observed in the America and its northern neighbor, Black History Month was conceived in 1962 as an observance of African American heritage by Black scholar Carter G. Woodson with a week of commemoration and observance in the second week of February. Black History Month grew out of this campaign and was publicly established in 1970. Currently it is marked not only in the North America in winter, but also in October in the UK, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Republic of Ireland and the Netherlands.
The period has developed since those days, placing less emphasis on the histories of colonial slavery and civil rights battles, and greater focus on prominent Black figures in politics, culture, and activism, and extensively acknowledging the contribution Black people have made to influence the nation. It is in schools where Black History Month is most commonly celebrated, with lectures and artistic activities. But the method the month is observed is a reflection of the political moment. How it evolves is a good lesson in how appropriation leads to weakening: the transformation of Black History Month has hindered the purpose of it, which is to address structural and organizational discrimination.
A Troubling Time
Few things illustrate how crucial it is to rethink Black History Month better than the particular moment in which it falls this year. In the UK, a revitalized conservative movement in the form of the Reform political group is ahead in surveys. In the warmer months we observed the most significant ultra-conservative gathering in British history. Kemi Badenoch, the person of color at the helm of the Tory party, is a staunch adversary of anti-racism activism, and we are in a situation where a legislator feels empowered to declare that the absence of Caucasian individuals in certain urban areas is a cause for alarm. Meanwhile, extreme conservative groups are surging in Europe as a whole.
In the US, a massive attack against diversity initiatives and positive discrimination has been taken, often successfully, to the highest courts of the nation. A campaign to remove African American heritage and narrative from the records is under way. One of Donald Trump's first executive orders aimed at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the Smithsonian Institution, claiming they of a coordinated and broad attempt to change the national past” by representing the nation “as naturally discriminatory”.
Given these circumstances, the month symbolises how little it can be effective if it is confined to either dutiful corporate observances, or politically neutered festivities of contributions in the past, rather than challenging the conditions of the current era. It also reveals how its limited duration means that it is separated from the more extensive continuous action that is required. A university professor, a professor at an educational institution, articulated it most accurately when she expressed apprehension about the fleeting superficial actions of the month. “The problem with adopting a symbolic stance”, she wrote, “is that it typically leads to that Black History Month becomes a transient display rather than a agent of progress.”
Reevaluating, Not Abandoning
Establishing how to adjust, modify and expand 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 entirely, thinking they are no longer suitable, or are relics of an time that has not worked.
However, regardless of the situation, Black History Month, and in fact the entire extended network and legacy of activism for racial justice – community-based BLM initiatives, diversity equity and inclusion initiatives, and indeed, including corporate presentations – constitute an framework that a lot of work has been dedicated to. It is there not merely to decline as the politics moves on (and in fact, deteriorates), but to be a dynamic entity.
So what would a new dynamic Black History Month seem? Firstly, it would be not just one concentrated month: something that is distributed throughout the annual calendar (as some institutions are already beginning to do), sections of its curriculum (particularly around notable African descendants) integrated into academic syllabi. It would also be a period that does not evade politics, and leaves space for citizens, particularly young people, to share their anxieties and narratives. What use is simple recognition of the bygone era when it doesn’t reckon with the present reality of ultra-nationalist gatherings in the urban areas? Organizations who celebrate it should not be comforted with the non-confrontational words of implicit prejudice and sensitivity to “microaggressions”, but faced with the dangers that impact society if fight against prejudice is not taken seriously. To summarize, Black History Month should be made contemporary, critical, and reactive. It could be that an total re-identification is required – Black History is Now Month.
