🔗 Share this article

It's Black History Month in the UK, and it seems it’s time for a reassessment. Throughout its history, an observance that began as a festivity and recollection of heritage, traditions and links between global Black communities, has adopted a commercial tone, growing to encompass events where African descendants are paid to talk to white audiences about “unconscious bias” and “allyship”. The anti-racism rallies of the last decade created a surge in the industry of showcasing anti-racist commitment. But even that moment has passed. The surge has reached its height, leaving a sort of hollowed out legacy of what raising awareness is for.

The Origins of Black History Observance

First commemorated in the United States and Canada, Black History Month was created 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 movement and was officially launched in 1970. Today it is observed not only in the US and Canada in winter, but also in autumn in the Britain, Germany, the Republic of Ireland and the Netherlands.

The observance has transformed since that time, giving reduced attention to the histories of transatlantic enslavement and fights for racial justice, and greater focus on influential individuals of color in government, the arts, and social movements, and extensively acknowledging the impact Black people have made to mold society. It is in learning environments where Black History Month is most frequently marked, with discussions and heritage festivities. But the way the month is celebrated is a reflection of the contemporary political context. How it develops is a good lesson in how assimilation leads to dismantling: the transformation of Black History Month has impeded the point of it, which is to tackle structural and organizational discrimination.

---

A Troubling Time

Little demonstrates how critical it is to reevaluate Black History Month more than the specific period in which it takes place this year. In the UK, a revitalized conservative movement in the form of the Reform political group is top in opinion ratings. In the recent season we observed the biggest extreme right demonstration in the UK's past. a prominent political figure, the person of color at the helm of the Tory party, is a firm opponent of Black Lives Matter, and we are in a place where a legislator feels emboldened to say that a lack of white people in parts of a city is a cause for alarm. Simultaneously, far-right parties are expanding in the EU as a complete entity.

In the America, a colossal assault against diversity initiatives and positive discrimination has been brought, frequently with success, to the highest courts of the state. A campaign to erase Black history and experience from the records is in progress. One of Donald Trump's initial presidential directives focused on the institution dedicated to Black heritage, and the renowned cultural organization, claiming they of a coordinated and broad attempt to change the national past” by representing the nation “as fundamentally prejudiced”.

In this context, the month illustrates how minimally it can be impactful if it is restricted to either obligatory business commemorations, or depoliticized celebrations of former accomplishments, rather than challenging the conditions of the present. It also demonstrates how its restricted time span means that it is detached from the wider consistent effort that is needed. An academic expert, a prof at a learning establishment, expressed it perfectly when she voiced worries about the short-term symbolic gestures of the celebration. “The issue with embracing a superficial method”, she wrote, “is that it typically leads to that Black History Month becomes a brief show rather than a agent of progress.”

---

Rethinking, But Not Jettisoning

Determining how to alter, change and broaden efforts for equal rights and acknowledgment in such times of discouragement and concern is a challenging endeavor. There is a temptation to just do away with events including Black History Month completely, thinking they are no longer suitable, or are remnants of an period that has been ineffective.

But despite everything, Black History Month, and in fact the entire extended network and heritage of activism for racial justice – community-based BLM initiatives, inclusion and equity efforts, and yes, even those talks to businesses – represent an framework that a considerable labor has been invested in. It is there not merely to decline as the political landscape shifts (and in fact, deteriorates), but to be a vital organism.

So what would a contemporary active Black History Month look like? Firstly, it would be more than a single focused period: something that is distributed across all seasons (as some institutions are already commencing), elements of its material (particularly around prominent figures of color) included in school curriculums. It would also be a time that does not shy away from politics, and allows opportunity for individuals, particularly youth, to share their anxieties and narratives. What use is mere awareness of the history when it ignores the present reality of ultra-nationalist gatherings in the street? Establishments who observe it should not be comforted with the neutral terminology of implicit prejudice and awareness of minor insults, but confronted with the threats that impact society if anti-racism is not treated with importance. To summarize, Black History Month should be made contemporary, pressing, and adaptive. Perhaps an complete renaming is required – Present-Day African Heritage Celebration.