Black History Month serves as a mirror of the current political climate, so how do we revamp it?

We are in Black History Month in the UK, and it seems it’s time for a re-evaluation. As time has passed, an celebration that started out as a festivity and recollection of heritage, traditions and links between international African diaspora communities, has developed a business-like atmosphere, growing to encompass events where Black people are compensated to address Caucasian groups about implicit prejudice and supportive partnership. The anti-racism rallies of the last decade generated a rise in the business of displaying cultural sensitivity. But even that moment has passed. The wave has reached its height, leaving a sort of hollowed out legacy of what promoting consciousness is for.

The Origins of Black History Celebration

Initially celebrated in the United States 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 remembrance and recognition in the February's second week. Black History Month grew out of this initiative and was formally inaugurated in 1970. Today it is observed not only in the North America in the second month, but also in the tenth month in the United Kingdom, the Federal Republic of Germany, Éire and the the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The observance has transformed since that time, placing less emphasis on the accounts of transatlantic enslavement and struggles for equality, and increasingly on influential individuals of color in politics, culture, and activism, and broadly celebrating the contribution Black people have made to mold society. It is in educational institutions where Black History Month is most regularly observed, with discussions and heritage festivities. But the way the observance is commemorated is a reflection of the contemporary political context. How it evolves is a instructive case in how co-option leads to weakening: the reshaping of Black History Month has impeded the purpose of it, which is to confront embedded and established prejudice.

A Disconcerting Period

Little demonstrates how critical it is to rethink Black History Month more than the particular moment in which it occurs this year. In the Britain, a reemerging right-wing in the shape of the Reform organization is leading the polls. In the warmer months we witnessed the biggest extreme right demonstration in British history. Kemi Badenoch, the Black leader of the Conservative party, is a staunch adversary of Black Lives Matter, and we are in a position where a member of parliament feels empowered to declare that the absence of Caucasian individuals in certain urban areas is a cause for alarm. At the same time, extreme conservative groups are expanding in the EU as a complete entity.

In the US, a colossal assault against DEI and affirmative action has been brought, frequently with success, to the supreme judicial bodies of the country. A drive to scrub the history of people of color and legacy from the records is ongoing. One of the former president's initial presidential directives targeted the museum of African American legacy, and the Smithsonian Institution, accusing them of a organized and extensive campaign to alter the country's historical narrative” by representing the nation “as fundamentally prejudiced”.

In this context, the celebration symbolises how insufficiently it can be influential if it is restricted to either dutiful corporate observances, or politically neutered festivities of former accomplishments, rather than addressing the situation of the current era. It also reveals how its limited duration means that it is detached from the broader ongoing work that is necessary. An academic expert, a professor at University of Greenwich, articulated it most accurately when she raised concerns about the fleeting superficial actions of the celebration. “The problem with adopting a symbolic stance”, she stated, “is that it frequently results in that Black History Month evolves into a brief show rather than a catalyst for change.”

Reconsidering, Not Discarding

Determining how to adapt, revise and extend efforts for equal rights and acknowledgment in such periods of dismay and anxiety is a challenging endeavor. There is a urge to just discontinue things like Black History Month completely, assuming they are inadequate for current needs, or are vestiges of an period that has failed to deliver.

However, regardless of the situation, Black History Month, and in fact the complete comprehensive structure and legacy of campaigns for equality – community-based BLM initiatives, DEI programs, and certainly, even commercial engagements – represent an framework that a lot of work has gone into. 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 fresh vibrant Black History Month look like? Well, first, it would be more than a single focused period: something that is distributed through the year (as some institutions are already commencing), parts of its content (particularly around prominent figures of color) incorporated into academic syllabi. It would also be a period that does not avoid politics, and leaves space for citizens, particularly young people, to express their concerns and stories. What use is simple recognition of the bygone era when it doesn’t reckon with the current situation of far-right rallies in the urban areas? Organizations who mark it should not be comforted with the neutral terminology of implicit prejudice and alertness to “microaggressions”, but confronted with the dangers that impact society if fight against prejudice is not taken seriously. In short, Black History Month should be made current, pressing, and adaptive. It could be that an complete renaming is required – Contemporary Black History Month.