The annual Black History observance is a reflection of the prevailing political atmosphere, so in what ways can we modernize it?
We are in Black History Month in the UK, and it feels like it’s time for a re-evaluation. As time has passed, an event that was initiated as a commemorative event of the past, cultural identity and bonds between global Black communities, has taken on a business-like atmosphere, growing to encompass events where Black people are remunerated to talk to predominantly white listeners about hidden biases and “allyship”. The 2020s Black Lives Matter protests created a surge in the enterprise of showcasing anti-racist commitment. However, that period has concluded. The tide has peaked, leaving a sort of hollowed out legacy of what increasing understanding is for.
The Background of Black History Observance
Originally observed in the US and Canada, Black History Month was conceived in 1962 as an observance of African American heritage by Black scholar Carter G. Woodson with multiple days of commemoration and observance in the middle of February. Black History Month developed from this campaign and was publicly established in 1970. Today it is observed not only in the United States and Canada in the second month, but also in autumn in the UK, the Federal Republic of Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands.
The month has evolved since that time, focusing less on the accounts of the slave trade across the Atlantic and fights for racial justice, and greater focus on influential individuals of color in politics, culture, and activism, and extensively acknowledging the impact Black people have made to influence the nation. It is in schools where Black History Month is most frequently marked, with talks and cultural events. But the method the observance is celebrated is a manifestation of the political moment. How it progresses is a instructive case in how appropriation leads to dismantling: the transformation of Black History Month has impeded the point of it, which is to address embedded and established prejudice.
A Jarring Moment
Little demonstrates how crucial it is to rethink Black History Month as much as the specific period in which it falls this year. In the UK, a revitalized conservative movement in the shape of the Reform party is leading the polls. In the summer we observed the largest far-right rally in the history of Britain. Kemi Badenoch, the person of color at the helm of the Tory party, is a staunch adversary of Black Lives Matter, and we are in a position where a elected representative feels emboldened to state that the absence of Caucasian individuals in certain urban areas is a source of worry. Meanwhile, ultra-nationalist movements are growing in the European continent as a complete entity.
In the US, a colossal assault against diversity initiatives and positive discrimination has been carried, repeatedly with positive outcomes, to the supreme judicial bodies of the nation. A effort to remove Black history and experience from the archives is in progress. One of the former president's first executive orders aimed at the museum of African American legacy, and the Smithsonian Institution, accusing them of a “concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation’s history” by representing the nation “as inherently racist”.
Given these circumstances, the month symbolises how insufficiently it can be impactful if it is restricted to either obligatory business commemorations, or stripped of political content celebrations of historical achievements, rather than challenging the conditions of the present. It also shows how its restricted time span means that it is separated from the wider consistent effort that is needed. An academic expert, a educator at University of Greenwich, articulated it most accurately when she expressed apprehension about the short-term symbolic gestures of the observance. “The issue with adopting a symbolic stance”, she wrote, “is that it typically leads to that Black History Month turns into a brief show rather than a driver of transformation.”
Rethinking, But Not Jettisoning
Figuring out how to adjust, modify and expand actions for racial equality and recognition in such periods of dismay and anxiety is a difficult task. There is a urge to just eliminate observances such as Black History Month completely, believing they are no longer suitable, or are relics of an period that has not worked.
But despite everything, Black History Month, and in fact the entire extended network and legacy of racial movements – grassroots Black Lives Matter organisations, diversity equity and inclusion initiatives, and yes, even those talks to businesses – form an foundation that a lot of work has been invested in. It is there not merely to decline as the situation evolves (and in fact, deteriorates), but to be a vital organism.
So what would a new dynamic Black History Month seem? Well, first, it would be more than a single focused period: something that is dispersed through the year (as certain organizations are already starting to implement), sections of its curriculum (particularly around historic Black characters) integrated into educational programs. It would also be a time that does not evade governmental matters, and leaves space for citizens, particularly the younger generation, to express their concerns and stories. What purpose serves simple recognition of the history when it doesn’t reckon with the present reality of extreme conservative demonstrations in the public spaces? Organizations who mark it should not be comforted with the passive language of implicit prejudice and sensitivity to minor insults, but faced with the dangers that face all if fight against prejudice is not treated with importance. To summarize, Black History Month should be made up-to-date, critical, and responsive. Maybe an complete renaming is required – Black History is Now Month.
