Black History Month is a reflection of the current political climate, so how do we revamp it?
This is Black History Month in the Britain, and it feels like it’s time for a reassessment. Throughout its history, an celebration that started out as a celebration and reminder of heritage, traditions and links between global Black communities, has adopted a corporate feel, growing to encompass gatherings where individuals of African heritage are paid to address white audiences about “unconscious bias” and active solidarity. The 2020s Black Lives Matter protests created a surge in the enterprise of showcasing anti-racist commitment. Yet, that phase is now over. The surge has crested, leaving a sort of hollowed out legacy of what increasing understanding is for.
The Origins of Black History Celebration
Originally observed in the United States and Canada, Black History Month was created in 1962 as an observance of African American heritage by historian of African descent Carter G. Woodson with a week of commemoration and observance in the February's second week. Black History Month grew out of this movement and was publicly established in 1970. Currently it is marked not only in the US and Canada in February, but also in October in the United Kingdom, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Republic of Ireland and the the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
The observance has developed since those days, giving reduced attention to the histories of transatlantic enslavement and civil rights battles, and more on influential individuals of color in public life, creative fields, and advocacy, and broadly celebrating the impact Black people have made to influence the nation. It is in learning environments where Black History Month is most frequently marked, with lectures and artistic activities. But the way the month is commemorated is a reflection of the current political situation. How it progresses is a good lesson in how assimilation leads to dismantling: the transformation of Black History Month has impeded the purpose of it, which is to confront embedded and established prejudice.
A Troubling Time
Few things illustrate how critical it is to reevaluate Black History Month more than the particular moment in which it occurs this year. In the UK, a reemerging right-wing in the shape of the Reform party is leading the polls. In the summer we observed the biggest extreme right demonstration in British history. Kemi Badenoch, the African descendant in charge of the right-wing political group, is a strong critic of Black Lives Matter, and we are in a place where a elected representative feels empowered to declare that a lack of white people in certain urban areas is a source of worry. Meanwhile, ultra-nationalist movements are surging in Europe as a complete entity.
In the US, a colossal assault against inclusion programs and preferential policies has been taken, repeatedly with positive outcomes, to the supreme judicial bodies of the country. A drive to scrub African American heritage and narrative from the historical documents is in progress. One of the political figure's early administrative commands aimed at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the prestigious establishment, alleging that they of a organized and extensive campaign to rewrite our Nation’s history” by depicting the United States “as naturally discriminatory”.
Against this backdrop, the month represents how minimally it can be impactful if it is limited to either routine organizational acknowledgments, or stripped of political content celebrations of historical achievements, rather than challenging the situation of the current era. It also demonstrates how its restricted time span means that it is separated from the broader ongoing work that is necessary. Denise Miller, a prof at an educational institution, articulated it most accurately when she expressed apprehension about the fleeting superficial actions of the month. “The issue with adopting a symbolic stance”, she wrote, “is that it typically leads to that Black History Month evolves into a fleeting performance rather than a agent of progress.”
Reconsidering, Not Discarding
Figuring out how to adapt, revise and extend actions for racial equality and recognition in such moments of dejection and worry is a treacherous thing. There is a inclination to just discontinue observances such as Black History Month altogether, thinking they are inadequate for current needs, or are relics of an era that has not worked.
However, regardless of the situation, Black History Month, and in fact the whole broad system and heritage of campaigns for equality – grassroots Black Lives Matter organisations, diversity equity and inclusion initiatives, and yes, even those talks to businesses – represent an framework that a significant effort has gone into. It is there not merely to decline as the politics moves on (and in fact, declines), but to be a vital organism.
So what would a contemporary active Black History Month seem? Well, first, it would be extended beyond a brief observance: something that is distributed through the year (as some institutions are already commencing), parts of its content (particularly around historic Black characters) incorporated into educational programs. It would also be a time that does not shy away from governmental matters, and leaves space for individuals, particularly young people, to express their concerns and stories. What use is mere awareness of the history when it fails to address the present reality of ultra-nationalist gatherings in the urban areas? Institutions who mark it should not be comforted with the neutral terminology of “unconscious bias” and awareness of “microaggressions”, but faced with the risks that impact society if opposition to discrimination is not taken seriously. In short, Black History Month should be made up-to-date, critical, and responsive. Perhaps an complete renaming is required – Black History is Now Month.
