🔗 Share this article

This is Black History Month in the UK, and it appears it’s time for a rethink. Over the years, an celebration that was initiated as a festivity and recollection of the past, cultural identity and bonds between global Black communities, has taken on a business-like atmosphere, expanding to include gatherings where individuals of African heritage are paid to talk to Caucasian groups about hidden biases and active solidarity. The 2020s Black Lives Matter protests sparked an increase in the industry of showcasing anti-racist commitment. However, that period has concluded. The tide has reached its height, producing a diluted aftermath of what raising awareness is for.

The History of Black History Observance

First commemorated in the US and Canada, Black History Month was established in 1962 as a week dedicated to Negro history by Black scholar Carter G. Woodson with seven days of celebration and reflection in the middle of February. Black History Month developed from this initiative and was publicly established in 1970. Now it is celebrated not only in the United States and Canada in the second month, but also in autumn in the United Kingdom, Germany, Ireland and the Holland.

The period has developed since that time, focusing less on the histories of colonial slavery and civil rights battles, and greater focus on notable African descendants in politics, culture, and activism, and broadly celebrating the contribution Black people have made to mold society. It is in schools where Black History Month is most regularly observed, with discussions and heritage festivities. But the way the month is commemorated is a indication of the contemporary political context. How it progresses is a valuable example in how appropriation leads to weakening: the transformation of Black History Month has hindered the point of it, which is to tackle systemic and institutional racism.

---

A Jarring Moment

Hardly anything shows how crucial it is to reconsider Black History Month better than the particular moment in which it takes place this year. In the United Kingdom, a revitalized conservative movement in the shape of the Reform political group is leading the polls. In the summer we saw the biggest extreme right demonstration in British history. a prominent political figure, the person of color at the helm of the right-wing political group, is a staunch adversary of anti-racism activism, and we are in a position where a legislator feels emboldened to state that the absence of Caucasian individuals in specific city neighborhoods is a cause for alarm. Meanwhile, far-right parties are surging in Europe as a whole.

In the United States, a significant offensive against diversity initiatives and positive discrimination has been brought, often successfully, to the supreme judicial bodies of the country. A campaign to scrub African American heritage and legacy from the records is ongoing. One of the political figure's initial presidential directives focused on the museum of African American legacy, and the Smithsonian Institution, accusing them of a coordinated and broad attempt to rewrite our Nation’s history” by depicting the United States “as inherently racist”.

Given these circumstances, the observance illustrates how insufficiently it can be impactful if it is restricted to either routine organizational acknowledgments, or politically neutered commemorations of historical achievements, rather than addressing the realities of the present. It also demonstrates how its short period means that it is separated from the wider consistent effort that is required. An academic expert, a educator at a learning establishment, articulated it most accurately when she raised concerns about the short-term symbolic gestures of the celebration. “The difficulty with taking a tokenistic approach”, she wrote, “is that it often means that Black History Month turns into a brief show rather than a catalyst for change.”

---

Reevaluating, Not Abandoning

Determining how to alter, change and broaden actions for equal rights and acknowledgment in such periods of dismay and anxiety is a treacherous thing. There is a inclination to just discontinue things like Black History Month completely, thinking they are inadequate for current needs, or are relics of an era that has not worked.

But despite everything, Black History Month, and in fact the entire extended network and tradition of activism for racial justice – grassroots Black Lives Matter organisations, inclusion and equity efforts, and yes, even those talks to businesses – represent an infrastructure that a lot of work has been dedicated to. It is there not just to decay as the situation evolves (and in fact, declines), but to be a dynamic entity.

So what would a fresh vibrant Black History Month seem? Firstly, it would be extended beyond a brief observance: something that is dispersed across all seasons (as certain organizations are already commencing), parts of its content (particularly around historic Black characters) included in educational programs. It would also be a time that does not shy away from political issues, and provides room for citizens, particularly youth, to express their concerns and stories. What value has simple recognition of the bygone era when it fails to address the current situation of extreme conservative demonstrations in the public spaces? Organizations who celebrate it should not be pacified with the passive language of hidden discrimination and sensitivity to “microaggressions”, but challenged by the threats that affect everyone if fight against prejudice is not taken seriously. To summarize, Black History Month should be made current, critical, and reactive. Perhaps an total re-identification is necessary – Black History is Now Month.