This commemorative month is a reflection of the prevailing political atmosphere, so how do we revamp it?
It's Black History Month in the UK, and it feels like it’s time for a re-evaluation. Throughout its history, an event that began as a festivity and recollection of heritage, traditions and links between international African diaspora communities, has adopted a commercial tone, growing to encompass gatherings where African descendants are remunerated to address white audiences about implicit prejudice and supportive partnership. The demonstrations for racial justice in the 2020s created a surge in the business of showcasing anti-racist commitment. However, that period has concluded. The surge has reached its height, resulting in a somewhat empty inheritance of what increasing understanding is for.
The Background of Black History Celebration
Initially celebrated in the United States and Canada, Black History Month was conceived in 1962 as an observance of African American heritage by Black scholar Carter G. Woodson with seven days of commemoration and observance in the second week of February. Black History Month evolved from this movement and was publicly established in 1970. Today it is observed not only in the North America in February, but also in autumn in the United Kingdom, Germany, the Republic of Ireland and the Holland.
The observance has evolved since its inception, placing less emphasis on the accounts of the slave trade across the Atlantic and fights for racial justice, and more on prominent Black figures in government, the arts, and social movements, and broadly celebrating the impact Black people have made to mold society. It is in learning environments where Black History Month is most regularly observed, with lectures and artistic activities. But the method the month is celebrated is a manifestation of the contemporary political context. How it evolves is a instructive case in how appropriation leads to erosion: the reshaping of Black History Month has impeded the point of it, which is to confront systemic and institutional racism.
A Troubling Time
Few things illustrate how critical it is to rethink Black History Month as much as the specific period in which it falls this year. In the UK, a resurgent right in the form of the Reform political group is leading the polls. In the recent season we witnessed the biggest extreme right demonstration in the history of Britain. Kemi Badenoch, the African descendant in charge of the right-wing political group, is a staunch adversary of Black Lives Matter, and we are in a position where a legislator feels empowered to declare that “not seeing any white faces” in certain urban areas is a cause for alarm. Meanwhile, ultra-nationalist movements are expanding in Europe as a complete entity.
In the United States, a significant offensive against diversity initiatives and positive discrimination has been carried, often successfully, to the highest courts of the country. A campaign to erase the history of people of color and narrative from the archives is ongoing. One of the former president's first executive orders aimed at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the renowned cultural organization, accusing them of a organized and extensive campaign to alter the country's historical narrative” by portraying America “as inherently racist”.
Against this backdrop, the celebration illustrates how minimally it can be impactful if it is confined to either routine organizational acknowledgments, or stripped of political content festivities of historical achievements, rather than addressing the conditions of the current era. It also demonstrates how its restricted time span means that it is disconnected from the more extensive continuous action that is needed. Denise Miller, a prof at a learning establishment, articulated it most accurately when she voiced worries about the fleeting superficial actions of the celebration. “The problem with taking a tokenistic approach”, she stated, “is that it frequently results in that Black History Month evolves into a brief show rather than a driver of transformation.”
Rethinking, But Not Jettisoning
Figuring out how to adapt, revise and extend efforts for fair treatment and appreciation in such periods of dismay and anxiety is a treacherous thing. There is a urge to just eliminate things like Black History Month altogether, assuming they are inadequate for current needs, or are remnants of an time that has not worked.
But despite everything, Black History Month, and in fact the whole broad system and legacy of racial movements – grassroots Black Lives Matter organisations, diversity equity and inclusion initiatives, and certainly, even commercial engagements – constitute an foundation that a lot of work has gone into. It is there not merely to decline as the political landscape shifts (and in fact, regresses), but to be a living breathing thing.
So what would a contemporary active Black History Month appear as? Firstly, it would be not just one concentrated month: something that is distributed across all seasons (as various establishments are already beginning to do), elements of its material (particularly around historic Black characters) integrated into school curriculums. It would also be a period that does not shy away from governmental matters, and allows opportunity 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 contemporary truth of ultra-nationalist gatherings in the street? Institutions who celebrate it should not be comforted with the passive language of “unconscious bias” and sensitivity to subtle slights, but challenged by the threats that affect everyone if fight against prejudice is not treated with importance. To summarize, Black History Month should be made contemporary, urgent, and reactive. Maybe an total re-identification is necessary – Present-Day African Heritage Celebration.
