The annual Black History observance serves as a mirror of the current political climate, so in what ways can we modernize it?
This is Black History Month in the UK, and it appears it’s time for a re-evaluation. Over the years, an celebration that started out as a celebration and reminder of heritage, traditions and links between international African diaspora communities, has adopted a commercial tone, broadening to incorporate functions where African descendants are remunerated to talk to predominantly white listeners about hidden biases and active solidarity. The 2020s Black Lives Matter protests created a surge in the business of demonstrating racial awareness. However, that period has concluded. The tide has peaked, resulting in a somewhat empty inheritance of what increasing understanding is for.
The Background of Black History Month
Originally observed 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 remembrance and recognition in the February's second week. Black History Month grew out of this movement and was officially launched in 1970. Currently it is marked not only in the United States and Canada in February, but also in October in the Britain, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Republic of Ireland and the Holland.
The period has transformed since its inception, giving reduced attention to the narratives of colonial slavery and civil rights battles, and increasingly on influential individuals of color in politics, culture, and activism, and broadly celebrating the impact Black people have made to shape the country. It is in learning environments where Black History Month is most frequently marked, with lectures and artistic activities. But the manner the observance is observed is a indication of the contemporary political context. How it progresses is a valuable example in how co-option leads to weakening: the transformation of Black History Month has stymied the objective of it, which is to address structural and organizational discrimination.
A Disconcerting Period
Little demonstrates how important it is to reevaluate Black History Month as much as the particular moment in which it falls this year. In the UK, a reemerging right-wing in the guise of the Reform organization is top in opinion ratings. In the summer we witnessed the biggest extreme right demonstration in the history of Britain. the Conservative leader, the Black leader of the right-wing political group, is a staunch adversary of the racial justice movement, and we are in a situation where a member of parliament gains confidence to declare that “not seeing any white faces” in certain urban areas is a cause for alarm. At the same time, ultra-nationalist movements are expanding in Europe as a whole.
In the US, a significant offensive against inclusion programs and preferential policies has been brought, repeatedly with positive outcomes, to the highest courts of the state. A drive to remove Black history and narrative from the historical documents is under way. One of Donald Trump's first executive orders focused on the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the prestigious establishment, claiming they of a “concerted and widespread effort to alter the country's historical narrative” by depicting the United States “as inherently racist”.
In this context, the observance symbolises how insufficiently it can be effective if it is confined to either obligatory business commemorations, or politically neutered festivities of former accomplishments, rather than addressing the realities of the current era. It also shows how its restricted time span means that it is disconnected from the wider consistent effort that is required. Denise Miller, a professor at a learning establishment, articulated it most accurately when she expressed apprehension about the fleeting superficial actions of the celebration. “The difficulty with adopting a symbolic stance”, she stated, “is that it typically leads to that Black History Month evolves into a transient display rather than a driver of transformation.”
Reconsidering, Not Discarding
Establishing how to adapt, revise and extend actions for racial equality and recognition in such times of discouragement and concern is a challenging endeavor. There is a urge to just eliminate observances such as Black History Month completely, assuming they are simply not fit for purpose, or are relics of an time that has failed to deliver.
However, regardless of the situation, Black History Month, and in fact the entire extended network and heritage of racial movements – grassroots Black Lives Matter organisations, diversity equity and inclusion initiatives, and certainly, even commercial engagements – form an infrastructure that a considerable labor has been invested in. It is there not only to deteriorate as the political landscape shifts (and in fact, deteriorates), but to be a vital organism.
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 through the year (as various establishments are already starting to implement), elements of its material (particularly around historic Black characters) included in school curriculums. It would also be a era that does not avoid governmental matters, and leaves space for people, particularly the younger generation, to share their anxieties and narratives. What value has basic knowledge of the past when it fails to address the contemporary truth of ultra-nationalist gatherings in the public spaces? Organizations who mark it should not be pacified with the non-confrontational words of “unconscious bias” and sensitivity to minor insults, but faced with the threats that face all if opposition to discrimination is not taken seriously. Briefly stated, Black History Month should be made contemporary, pressing, and responsive. Perhaps an entire name rebrand is in order – Black History is Now Month.
