Black History Month acts as a gauge of the political moment, so how do we revamp it?
This is Black History Month in the UK, and it appears it’s time for a rethink. As time has passed, an observance that was initiated as a celebration and reminder of history, culture and the connections between Black populations worldwide, has taken on a business-like atmosphere, growing to encompass gatherings where Black people are remunerated to address Caucasian groups about implicit prejudice and active solidarity. The anti-racism rallies of the last decade created a surge in the enterprise of displaying cultural sensitivity. Yet, that phase is now over. The tide has reached its height, leaving a sort of hollowed out legacy of what promoting consciousness is for.
The Background of Black History Celebration
Originally observed in the America and its northern neighbor, Black History Month was created in 1962 as a week dedicated to Negro history by African American historian Carter G. Woodson with a week of remembrance and recognition in the middle of February. Black History Month developed from this initiative and was formally inaugurated in 1970. Currently it is marked not only in the North America in winter, but also in October in the Britain, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Republic of Ireland and the Holland.
The month has evolved since those days, giving reduced attention to the narratives of transatlantic enslavement and fights for racial justice, and increasingly on prominent Black figures in government, the arts, and social movements, and broadly celebrating the contribution Black people have made to influence the nation. It is in educational institutions where Black History Month is most regularly observed, with lectures and artistic activities. But the method the celebration is observed is a reflection of the contemporary political context. How it evolves is a good lesson in how appropriation leads to erosion: the restructuring of Black History Month has impeded the purpose of it, which is to address structural and organizational discrimination.
A Disconcerting Period
Few things illustrate how important it is to reconsider Black History Month more than the particular moment in which it falls this year. In the UK, a revitalized conservative movement in the form of the Reform organization is leading the polls. In the summer we observed the biggest extreme right demonstration in British history. a prominent political figure, the person of color at the helm of the Tory party, is a staunch adversary of the racial justice movement, and we are in a place where a legislator feels emboldened to state that a lack of white people in specific city neighborhoods is a reason for concern. Simultaneously, extreme conservative groups are surging in Europe as a entirety.
In the United States, a significant offensive against diversity initiatives and positive discrimination has been carried, repeatedly with positive outcomes, to the top legal institutions of the nation. A campaign to scrub the history of people of color and narrative from the historical documents is ongoing. One of Donald Trump's early administrative commands focused on the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the renowned cultural organization, claiming they of a coordinated and broad attempt to alter the country's historical narrative” by portraying America “as inherently racist”.
Against this backdrop, the observance represents how minimally it can be impactful if it is restricted to either dutiful corporate observances, or politically neutered commemorations of historical achievements, rather than addressing the situation of the contemporary world. It also reveals how its limited duration means that it is separated from the broader ongoing work that is required. Denise Miller, a prof at University of Greenwich, expressed it perfectly when she raised concerns about the fleeting superficial actions of the observance. “The problem with embracing a superficial method”, she wrote, “is that it often means that Black History Month evolves into a fleeting performance rather than a agent of progress.”
Reevaluating, Not Abandoning
Figuring out how to adapt, revise and extend actions for equal rights and acknowledgment in such periods of dismay and anxiety is a challenging endeavor. There is a inclination to just discontinue things like Black History Month altogether, believing they are no longer suitable, or are remnants of an period that has not worked.
But despite everything, Black History Month, and in fact the whole broad system and heritage of activism for racial justice – community-based BLM initiatives, inclusion and equity efforts, and certainly, even commercial engagements – represent an infrastructure that a considerable labor has been dedicated to. It is there not merely to decline as the situation evolves (and in fact, regresses), but to be a vital organism.
So what would a new dynamic Black History Month seem? To begin with, it would be extended beyond a brief observance: something that is spread out across all seasons (as some institutions are already beginning to do), sections of its curriculum (particularly around historic Black characters) incorporated into school curriculums. It would also be a time that does not shy away from governmental matters, and provides room for people, particularly the younger generation, to share their anxieties and narratives. What purpose serves mere awareness of the history when it ignores the present reality of extreme conservative demonstrations in the street? Establishments who celebrate it should not be reassured with the passive language of “unconscious bias” and sensitivity to subtle slights, but challenged by the risks that impact society if anti-racism is not taken seriously. In short, Black History Month should be made contemporary, urgent, and adaptive. It could be that an complete renaming is in order – Black History is Now Month.
