Black History Month acts as a gauge of the political moment, so what steps can we take to refresh it?
This is Black History Month in the United Kingdom, and it feels like it’s time for a re-evaluation. Throughout its history, an observance that was initiated as a festivity and recollection of history, culture and the connections between international African diaspora communities, has taken on a commercial tone, broadening to incorporate events where Black people are paid to talk to white audiences about “unconscious bias” and “allyship”. The 2020s Black Lives Matter protests sparked an increase in the business of displaying cultural sensitivity. However, that period has concluded. The wave has peaked, leaving a sort of hollowed out legacy of what increasing understanding is for.
The History of Black History Observance
Initially celebrated in the America and its northern neighbor, Black History Month was created in 1962 as “Negro History Week” by African American historian Carter G. Woodson with a week of celebration and reflection in the middle of February. Black History Month grew out of this campaign and was officially launched in 1970. Today it is observed not only in the United States and Canada in the second month, but also in the tenth month in the UK, Deutschland, Éire and the Netherlands.
The observance has developed since those days, giving reduced attention to the histories of colonial slavery and civil rights battles, and greater focus on prominent Black figures in government, the arts, and social movements, and widely honoring the impact Black people have made to mold society. It is in learning environments where Black History Month is most frequently marked, with discussions and heritage festivities. But the manner the observance is commemorated is a manifestation of the contemporary political context. How it develops is a valuable example in how assimilation leads to dismantling: the restructuring of Black History Month has impeded the purpose of it, which is to tackle systemic and institutional racism.
A Jarring Moment
Little demonstrates how crucial it is to reevaluate Black History Month as much as the current time in which it takes place this year. In the Britain, a reemerging right-wing in the shape of the Reform party is top in opinion ratings. In the warmer months we witnessed the biggest extreme right demonstration in the history of Britain. the Conservative leader, the African descendant in charge of the right-wing political group, is a staunch adversary of the racial justice movement, and we are in a place where a elected representative feels empowered to say that a lack of white people in certain urban areas is a source of worry. Meanwhile, ultra-nationalist movements are expanding in the EU as a complete entity.
In the America, a massive attack against diversity initiatives and positive discrimination has been carried, repeatedly with positive outcomes, to the highest courts of the country. A drive to erase African American heritage and narrative from the archives is ongoing. One of the former president's first executive orders targeted the museum of African American legacy, and the Smithsonian Institution, accusing them of a “concerted and widespread effort to change the national past” by representing the nation “as inherently racist”.
In this context, the observance illustrates how minimally it can be influential if it is limited to either routine organizational acknowledgments, or depoliticized festivities of contributions in the past, rather than challenging the conditions of the contemporary world. It also demonstrates how its restricted time span means that it is disconnected from the broader ongoing work that is needed. Denise Miller, a professor at a learning establishment, articulated it most accurately when she expressed apprehension about the short-term symbolic gestures of the month. “The problem with embracing a superficial method”, she stated, “is that it typically leads to that Black History Month turns into a fleeting performance rather than a driver of transformation.”
Reevaluating, Not Abandoning
Figuring out how to alter, change and broaden efforts for racial equality and recognition in such periods of dismay and anxiety is a difficult task. There is a temptation to just do away with observances such as Black History Month completely, believing they are simply not fit for purpose, or are remnants of an time that has failed to deliver.
Yet, in spite of all this, Black History Month, and in fact the entire extended network and tradition of racial movements – local anti-racism groups, diversity equity and inclusion initiatives, and certainly, even commercial engagements – constitute an infrastructure that a significant effort has gone into. It is there not only to deteriorate as the political landscape shifts (and in fact, deteriorates), but to be a living breathing thing.
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 across all seasons (as various establishments are already beginning to do), elements of its material (particularly around prominent figures of color) included in school curriculums. It would also be a time that does not evade governmental matters, and allows opportunity for individuals, particularly the younger generation, to express their concerns and stories. What use is mere awareness of the past when it fails to address the contemporary truth of ultra-nationalist gatherings in the public spaces? Institutions who celebrate it should not be pacified with the non-confrontational words of “unconscious bias” and awareness of “microaggressions”, but challenged by the threats that impact society if opposition to discrimination is not taken seriously. Briefly stated, Black History Month should be made current, urgent, and responsive. Perhaps an total re-identification is necessary – Black History is Now Month.
