🔗 Share this article

It's Black History Month in the Britain, and it seems it’s time for a reassessment. As time has passed, an observance that started out as a festivity and recollection of heritage, traditions and links between international African diaspora communities, has adopted a corporate feel, expanding to include functions where African descendants are remunerated to talk to Caucasian groups 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 reached its height, resulting in a somewhat empty inheritance of what promoting consciousness is for.

The Origins of Black History Celebration

First commemorated in the America and its northern neighbor, Black History Month was established in 1962 as an observance of African American heritage by Black scholar Carter G. Woodson with multiple days of remembrance and recognition in the middle of February. Black History Month evolved from this initiative and was officially launched in 1970. Today it is observed not only in the US and Canada in February, but also in autumn in the UK, Germany, Éire and the Netherlands.

The observance has transformed since those days, giving reduced attention to the accounts of the slave trade across the Atlantic and struggles for equality, and greater focus on prominent Black figures in public life, creative fields, and advocacy, and extensively acknowledging the contribution Black people have made to influence the nation. It is in learning environments where Black History Month is most commonly celebrated, with discussions and heritage festivities. But the way the observance is observed is a reflection of the current political situation. How it develops is a valuable example in how appropriation leads to weakening: the transformation of Black History Month has impeded the objective of it, which is to address systemic and institutional racism.

---

A Jarring Moment

Few things illustrate how important it is to reconsider Black History Month as much as the particular moment in which it takes place this year. In the UK, a resurgent right in the shape of the Reform organization is ahead in surveys. In the warmer months we observed the largest far-right rally in the history of Britain. Kemi Badenoch, the Black leader of the Tory party, is a strong critic of Black Lives Matter, and we are in a situation where a legislator feels empowered to say that the absence of Caucasian individuals in certain urban areas is a source of worry. Meanwhile, far-right parties are expanding in the European continent as a entirety.

In the US, a massive attack against diversity initiatives and positive discrimination has been taken, repeatedly with positive outcomes, to the top legal institutions of the nation. A drive to erase African American heritage and narrative from the historical documents is ongoing. One of the political figure's first executive orders aimed at the museum of African American legacy, and the prestigious establishment, alleging that they of a “concerted and widespread effort to change the national past” by representing the nation “as naturally discriminatory”.

Given these circumstances, the celebration represents how little it can be influential if it is restricted to either obligatory business commemorations, or depoliticized celebrations of former accomplishments, rather than confronting the situation of the present. It also shows how its short period means that it is detached from the broader ongoing work that is needed. A university professor, a professor at an educational institution, put it best when she expressed apprehension about the temporary “tokenism” of the month. “The difficulty with adopting a symbolic stance”, she wrote, “is that it frequently results in that Black History Month evolves into a transient display rather than a catalyst for change.”

---

Reevaluating, Not Abandoning

Determining how to adjust, modify and expand actions for fair treatment and appreciation in such times of discouragement and concern is a challenging endeavor. There is a urge to just eliminate events including Black History Month completely, believing they are simply not fit for purpose, or are remnants of an era that has not worked.

However, regardless of the situation, Black History Month, and in fact the complete comprehensive structure and tradition of activism for racial justice – local anti-racism groups, inclusion and equity efforts, and yes, even those talks to businesses – constitute an framework that a considerable labor has been dedicated to. It is there not merely to decline as the situation evolves (and in fact, declines), but to be a dynamic entity.

So what would a new dynamic Black History Month seem? To begin with, it would be more than a single focused period: something that is spread out across all seasons (as some institutions are already starting to implement), parts of its content (particularly around prominent figures of color) included in educational programs. It would also be a period that does not shy away from politics, and provides room for individuals, particularly the younger generation, to air their fears and experiences. What value has basic knowledge of the history when it fails to address the present reality of far-right rallies in the urban areas? Organizations who celebrate it should not be pacified with the non-confrontational words of hidden discrimination and awareness of minor insults, but confronted with the risks that face all if anti-racism is not approached earnestly. To summarize, Black History Month should be made contemporary, urgent, and reactive. Perhaps an complete renaming is required – Contemporary Black History Month.