Black History Month serves as a mirror of the political moment, so in what ways can we modernize it?
This is Black History Month in the Britain, and it feels like it’s time for a reassessment. Over the years, an event that began as a commemorative event of heritage, traditions and links between global Black communities, has taken on a corporate feel, expanding to include gatherings where Black people are remunerated to talk to Caucasian groups about “unconscious bias” and active solidarity. The anti-racism rallies of the last decade generated a rise in the business of showcasing anti-racist commitment. But even that moment has passed. The wave has reached its height, resulting in a somewhat empty inheritance of what raising awareness is for.
The Background of Black History Observance
First commemorated 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 seven days of remembrance and recognition in the middle of February. Black History Month developed from this movement and was formally inaugurated in 1970. Currently it is marked not only in the United States and Canada in February, but also in autumn in the Britain, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Republic of Ireland and the Netherlands.
The observance has transformed since that time, focusing less on the histories of the slave trade across the Atlantic and struggles for equality, and increasingly on influential individuals of color in government, the arts, and social movements, and extensively acknowledging the input Black people have made to mold society. It is in learning environments where Black History Month is most frequently marked, with lectures and artistic activities. But the manner the celebration is observed is a manifestation of the political moment. How it develops is a valuable example in how appropriation leads to erosion: the reshaping of Black History Month has stymied the point of it, which is to confront systemic and institutional racism.
A Jarring Moment
Few things illustrate how crucial it is to rethink Black History Month better than the particular moment in which it occurs this year. In the UK, a revitalized conservative movement in the shape of the Reform organization is ahead in surveys. In the recent season we saw the largest far-right rally in the UK's past. Kemi Badenoch, the Black leader of the Tory party, is a strong critic of Black Lives Matter, and we are in a place where a legislator feels empowered to state that “not seeing any white faces” in parts of a city is a cause for alarm. Meanwhile, ultra-nationalist movements are expanding in Europe as a whole.
In the America, a massive attack against inclusion programs and preferential policies has been carried, repeatedly with positive outcomes, to the highest courts of the country. A drive to scrub Black history and narrative from the archives is under way. One of Donald Trump's first executive orders targeted the institution dedicated to Black heritage, and the renowned cultural organization, accusing them of a “concerted and widespread effort to change the national past” by representing the nation “as inherently racist”.
In this context, the observance symbolises how minimally it can be impactful if it is limited to either routine organizational acknowledgments, or depoliticized festivities of former accomplishments, rather than challenging the conditions of the current era. It also reveals how its restricted time span means that it is detached from the wider consistent effort that is necessary. A university professor, a educator at a learning establishment, put it best when she raised concerns about the temporary “tokenism” of the celebration. “The problem with taking a tokenistic approach”, she commented, “is that it frequently results in that Black History Month turns into a transient display rather than a agent of progress.”
Rethinking, But Not Jettisoning
Figuring out how to adjust, modify and expand initiatives for equal rights and acknowledgment in such moments of dejection and worry is a treacherous thing. There is a inclination to just eliminate observances such as Black History Month entirely, thinking they are simply not fit for purpose, or are vestiges of an time that has not worked.
However, regardless of the situation, Black History Month, and in fact the entire extended network and heritage of campaigns for equality – local anti-racism groups, DEI programs, and certainly, even commercial engagements – represent an infrastructure that a lot of work has been dedicated to. It is there not only to deteriorate as the political landscape shifts (and in fact, declines), but to be a dynamic entity.
So what would a contemporary active Black History Month appear as? To begin with, it would be not just one concentrated month: something that is spread out throughout the annual calendar (as certain organizations are already starting to implement), elements of its material (particularly around historic Black characters) included in academic syllabi. It would also be a era that does not shy away from political issues, and allows opportunity for people, particularly young people, to air their fears and experiences. What purpose serves mere awareness of the history when it doesn’t reckon with the contemporary truth of far-right rallies in the urban areas? Establishments who observe it should not be pacified with the passive language of implicit prejudice and awareness of minor insults, but confronted with the dangers that affect everyone if anti-racism is not approached earnestly. Briefly stated, Black History Month should be made up-to-date, pressing, and responsive. Perhaps an total re-identification is required – Present-Day African Heritage Celebration.
