Black History Month is a reflection of the political moment, so what steps can we take to refresh it?
This is Black History Month in the Britain, and it seems it’s time for a rethink. Over the years, an event that was initiated as a celebration and reminder of history, culture and the connections between Black populations worldwide, has developed a business-like atmosphere, expanding to include gatherings where African descendants are compensated to speak with Caucasian groups about hidden biases and “allyship”. The demonstrations for racial justice in the 2020s sparked an increase in the enterprise of showcasing anti-racist commitment. However, that period has concluded. The tide has crested, leaving a sort of hollowed out legacy of what raising awareness is for.
The Origins of Black History Celebration
Initially celebrated in the US and Canada, Black History Month was created in 1962 as a week dedicated to Negro history by African American historian Carter G. Woodson with a week of remembrance and recognition in the middle of February. Black History Month grew out of this campaign and was formally inaugurated in 1970. Now it is celebrated not only in the United States and Canada in winter, but also in the tenth month in the Britain, the Federal Republic of Germany, Éire and the the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
The month has transformed since those days, focusing less on the accounts of the slave trade across the Atlantic and struggles for equality, and increasingly on prominent Black figures in politics, culture, and activism, and extensively acknowledging the input Black people have made to mold society. It is in learning environments where Black History Month is most regularly observed, with discussions and heritage festivities. But the manner the observance is celebrated is a indication of the contemporary political context. How it progresses is a good lesson in how co-option leads to weakening: the reshaping of Black History Month has hindered the objective of it, which is to confront structural and organizational discrimination.
A Troubling Time
Hardly anything shows how important it is to rethink Black History Month as much as the current time in which it takes place this year. In the Britain, a resurgent right in the guise of the Reform political group is ahead in surveys. In the summer we witnessed the most significant ultra-conservative gathering in the UK's past. Kemi Badenoch, the Black leader of the Conservative party, is a staunch adversary of Black Lives Matter, and we are in a place where a elected representative gains confidence to declare that a lack of white people in certain urban areas is a cause for alarm. Meanwhile, ultra-nationalist movements are growing in the European continent as a whole.
In the United States, a colossal assault against DEI and affirmative action has been brought, repeatedly with positive outcomes, to the supreme judicial bodies of the state. A campaign to erase African American heritage and legacy from the records is in progress. One of Donald Trump's initial presidential directives focused on the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the renowned cultural organization, claiming they of a “concerted and widespread effort to change the national past” by portraying America “as inherently racist”.
Against this backdrop, the celebration represents how minimally it can be influential if it is restricted to either dutiful corporate observances, or politically neutered celebrations of former accomplishments, rather than challenging the conditions of the current era. It also shows how its limited duration means that it is separated from the broader ongoing work that is necessary. An academic expert, a professor at University of Greenwich, expressed it perfectly when she expressed apprehension about the fleeting superficial actions of the observance. “The problem with embracing a superficial method”, she commented, “is that it often means that Black History Month turns into a fleeting performance rather than a agent of progress.”
Reconsidering, Not Discarding
Determining how to alter, change and broaden actions for racial equality and recognition in such moments of dejection and worry is a difficult task. There is a temptation to just do away with events including Black History Month altogether, believing they are no longer suitable, or are relics of an time that has been ineffective.
Yet, in spite of all this, Black History Month, and in fact the whole broad system and tradition of campaigns for equality – community-based BLM initiatives, diversity equity and inclusion initiatives, and certainly, even commercial engagements – form an foundation that a lot of work has gone into. It is there not just to decay as the politics moves on (and in fact, declines), but to be a dynamic entity.
So what would a fresh vibrant Black History Month seem? Well, first, it would be not just one concentrated month: something that is distributed through the year (as various establishments are already commencing), sections of its curriculum (particularly around prominent figures of color) included in school curriculums. It would also be a period that does not evade political issues, and leaves space for citizens, particularly youth, to share their anxieties and narratives. What purpose serves mere awareness of the bygone era when it doesn’t reckon with the contemporary truth of far-right rallies in the urban areas? Organizations who celebrate it should not be reassured with the neutral terminology of implicit prejudice and awareness of “microaggressions”, but faced with the dangers that impact society if fight against prejudice is not treated with importance. Briefly stated, Black History Month should be made up-to-date, urgent, and reactive. Perhaps an total re-identification is required – Present-Day African Heritage Celebration.
