This commemorative month 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 feels like it’s time for a rethink. As time has passed, an event that started out as a commemorative event of the past, cultural identity and bonds between Black populations worldwide, has developed a commercial tone, growing to encompass events where individuals of African heritage are compensated to address Caucasian groups about “unconscious bias” and active solidarity. The 2020s Black Lives Matter protests sparked an increase in the business of displaying cultural sensitivity. But even that moment has passed. The surge has reached its height, leaving a sort of hollowed out legacy of what promoting consciousness is for.
The Origins of Black History Month
First commemorated in the US and Canada, Black History Month was conceived in 1962 as an observance of African American heritage by historian of African descent Carter G. Woodson with a week of remembrance and recognition in the second week of February. Black History Month evolved from this campaign and was publicly established in 1970. Currently it is marked not only in the North America in February, but also in October in the United Kingdom, the Federal Republic of Germany, Éire and the Holland.
The period has evolved since its inception, focusing less on the narratives 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 shape the country. It is in educational institutions where Black History Month is most regularly observed, with lectures and artistic activities. But the manner the observance is celebrated is a manifestation of the political moment. How it evolves is a good lesson in how co-option leads to weakening: the reshaping of Black History Month has impeded the objective of it, which is to tackle systemic and institutional racism.
A Jarring Moment
Little demonstrates how critical it is to reevaluate Black History Month better than the current time in which it takes place this year. In the Britain, a resurgent right in the shape of the Reform organization is ahead in surveys. In the warmer months we witnessed the largest far-right rally in British history. the Conservative leader, the African descendant in charge of the Conservative party, is a staunch adversary of anti-racism activism, and we are in a situation where a member of parliament feels emboldened to state that “not seeing any white faces” in certain urban areas is a reason for concern. Simultaneously, far-right parties are expanding in Europe as a entirety.
In the America, a massive attack against DEI and affirmative action has been taken, often successfully, to the highest courts of the state. A campaign to scrub African American heritage and legacy from the historical documents is in progress. One of the former president's initial presidential directives aimed at 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 representing the nation “as fundamentally prejudiced”.
Given these circumstances, the celebration illustrates how little it can be effective if it is confined to either dutiful corporate observances, or politically neutered festivities of historical achievements, rather than challenging the situation of the current era. It also reveals how its restricted time span means that it is disconnected from the wider consistent effort that is needed. Denise Miller, a prof at an educational institution, put it best when she raised concerns about the temporary “tokenism” of the observance. “The issue with taking a tokenistic approach”, she commented, “is that it typically leads to that Black History Month becomes a transient display rather than a driver of transformation.”
Rethinking, But Not Jettisoning
Determining how to adapt, revise and extend efforts for equal rights and acknowledgment in such periods of dismay and anxiety is a treacherous thing. There is a urge to just do away with observances such as Black History Month altogether, believing 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 whole broad system and heritage of racial movements – local anti-racism groups, inclusion and equity efforts, and certainly, even commercial engagements – constitute an foundation that a considerable labor has been invested in. It is there not just to decay as the politics moves on (and in fact, declines), but to be a dynamic entity.
So what would a contemporary active Black History Month appear as? To begin with, it would be not just one concentrated month: something that is spread out throughout the annual calendar (as various establishments are already commencing), parts of its content (particularly around notable African descendants) incorporated into academic syllabi. It would also be a era that does not evade governmental matters, and allows opportunity for individuals, particularly the younger generation, to share their anxieties and narratives. What purpose serves mere awareness of the past when it fails to address the present reality of ultra-nationalist gatherings in the public spaces? Organizations who mark it should not be pacified with the passive language of hidden discrimination and sensitivity to subtle slights, but challenged by the threats that impact society if fight against prejudice is not treated with importance. In short, Black History Month should be made current, urgent, and adaptive. Maybe an complete renaming is necessary – Contemporary Black History Month.
