🔗 Share this article

It's Black History Month in the UK, and it feels like it’s time for a reassessment. Over the years, an observance that began as a celebration and reminder of history, culture and the connections between international African diaspora communities, has adopted a business-like atmosphere, expanding to include functions where Black people are compensated to address predominantly white listeners about “unconscious bias” and “allyship”. The demonstrations for racial justice in the 2020s sparked an increase in the business of demonstrating racial awareness. Yet, that phase is now over. The wave has crested, producing a diluted aftermath of what increasing understanding is for.

The Background of Black History Observance

Originally observed in the US and Canada, Black History Month was created in 1962 as an observance of African American heritage by Black scholar Carter G. Woodson with a week of commemoration and observance in the second week of February. Black History Month evolved from this movement and was publicly established in 1970. Now it is celebrated not only in the United States and Canada in February, but also in October in the UK, Deutschland, the Republic of Ireland and the Netherlands.

The period has developed since that time, focusing less on the accounts of the slave trade across the Atlantic and fights for racial justice, and increasingly on influential individuals of color in government, the arts, and social movements, and broadly celebrating the input Black people have made to influence the nation. It is in schools where Black History Month is most commonly celebrated, with lectures and artistic activities. But the way the observance is observed is a indication of the contemporary political context. How it develops is a good lesson in how appropriation leads to weakening: the transformation of Black History Month has hindered the purpose of it, which is to confront embedded and established prejudice.

---

A Troubling Time

Little demonstrates how important it is to reconsider Black History Month more than the particular moment in which it occurs this year. In the United Kingdom, a reemerging right-wing in the shape of the Reform organization is top in opinion ratings. In the summer we saw the biggest extreme right demonstration in British history. Kemi Badenoch, 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 situation where a elected representative feels emboldened to declare that the absence of Caucasian individuals in specific city neighborhoods is a source of worry. Meanwhile, ultra-nationalist movements are surging in the European continent as a whole.

In the United States, a colossal assault against diversity initiatives and positive discrimination has been taken, repeatedly with positive outcomes, to the top legal institutions of the country. A campaign to remove African American heritage and narrative from the archives is in progress. One of Donald Trump's first executive orders targeted the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the prestigious establishment, claiming they of a “concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation’s history” by depicting the United States “as fundamentally prejudiced”.

In this context, the observance illustrates how minimally it can be impactful if it is confined to either routine organizational acknowledgments, or politically neutered festivities of former accomplishments, rather than confronting the conditions of the present. It also reveals how its short period means that it is disconnected from the broader ongoing work that is necessary. Denise Miller, a professor at an educational institution, put it best when she voiced worries about the temporary “tokenism” of the celebration. “The issue with embracing a superficial method”, she stated, “is that it often means that Black History Month turns into a transient display rather than a driver of transformation.”

---

Reevaluating, Not Abandoning

Establishing how to alter, change and broaden actions for racial equality and recognition in such moments of dejection and worry is a challenging endeavor. There is a temptation to just discontinue observances such as Black History Month completely, thinking they are inadequate for current needs, or are vestiges of an era that has not worked.

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

So what would a new dynamic Black History Month look like? To begin with, it would be more than a single focused period: something that is distributed across all seasons (as certain organizations are already commencing), elements of its material (particularly around notable African descendants) included in educational programs. It would also be a period that does not shy away from governmental matters, and leaves space for people, particularly the younger generation, to air their fears and experiences. What purpose serves simple recognition of the bygone era when it fails to address the present reality of extreme conservative demonstrations in the public spaces? Organizations who mark it should not be reassured with the passive language of hidden discrimination and awareness of “microaggressions”, but confronted with the risks that affect everyone if opposition to discrimination is not approached earnestly. To summarize, Black History Month should be made current, critical, and responsive. Perhaps an entire name rebrand is in order – Black History is Now Month.