This commemorative month acts as a gauge of the prevailing political atmosphere, so in what ways can we modernize it?
It's Black History Month in the United Kingdom, and it seems it’s time for a re-evaluation. As time has passed, an celebration that was initiated as a festivity and recollection of heritage, traditions and links between global Black communities, has taken on a commercial tone, growing to encompass functions where African descendants are compensated to address Caucasian groups about hidden biases and supportive partnership. The anti-racism rallies of the last decade created a surge in the enterprise of showcasing anti-racist commitment. However, that period has concluded. The surge has crested, resulting in a somewhat empty inheritance of what promoting consciousness is for.
The Background of Black History Month
First commemorated in the US and Canada, Black History Month was established in 1962 as an observance of African American heritage by African American historian Carter G. Woodson with a week of remembrance and recognition in the February's second week. Black History Month evolved from this movement and was formally inaugurated in 1970. Currently it is marked not only in the United States and Canada in winter, but also in autumn in the United Kingdom, Germany, the Republic of Ireland and the the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
The period has transformed since those days, focusing less on the histories of the slave trade across the Atlantic and civil rights battles, and increasingly on prominent Black figures in government, the arts, and social movements, and widely honoring the input Black people have made to influence the nation. It is in schools where Black History Month is most commonly celebrated, with talks and cultural events. But the manner the month is commemorated is a reflection of the political moment. How it evolves is a valuable example in how co-option leads to erosion: the reshaping of Black History Month has hindered the point of it, which is to address embedded and established prejudice.
A Disconcerting Period
Few things illustrate how important it is to reevaluate Black History Month better than the specific period in which it takes place this year. In the UK, a revitalized conservative movement in the guise of the Reform political group is leading the polls. In the summer we observed the biggest extreme right demonstration in the UK's past. the Conservative leader, the African descendant in charge of the Conservative party, is a strong critic of the racial justice movement, and we are in a place where a legislator feels emboldened to declare that a lack of white people in specific city neighborhoods is a source of worry. Meanwhile, extreme conservative groups are expanding in the EU as a whole.
In the US, a colossal assault against inclusion programs and preferential policies has been taken, repeatedly with positive outcomes, to the highest courts of the country. A effort to erase the history of people of color and narrative from the archives is ongoing. One of Donald Trump's initial presidential directives focused on the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the Smithsonian Institution, claiming they of a organized and extensive campaign to rewrite our Nation’s history” by portraying America “as inherently racist”.
In this context, the celebration symbolises how insufficiently it can be influential if it is limited to either obligatory business commemorations, or stripped of political content festivities of former accomplishments, rather than confronting the conditions of the contemporary world. It also reveals how its restricted time span means that it is separated from the wider consistent effort that is needed. An academic expert, a educator at University of Greenwich, put it best when she raised concerns about the fleeting superficial actions of the month. “The problem with embracing a superficial method”, she stated, “is that it typically leads to that Black History Month turns into a fleeting performance rather than a agent of progress.”
Reevaluating, Not Abandoning
Figuring out how to alter, change and broaden efforts for fair treatment and appreciation in such times of discouragement and concern is a difficult task. There is a temptation to just eliminate observances such as Black History Month completely, thinking they are simply not fit for purpose, or are vestiges of an period that has failed to deliver.
Yet, in spite of all this, Black History Month, and in fact the entire extended network and legacy of racial movements – local anti-racism groups, diversity equity and inclusion initiatives, and yes, even those talks to businesses – form an foundation that a lot of work has been dedicated to. It is there not just to decay as the political landscape shifts (and in fact, deteriorates), but to be a dynamic entity.
So what would a contemporary active Black History Month appear as? Firstly, it would be not just one concentrated month: something that is dispersed throughout the annual calendar (as some institutions are already beginning to do), sections of its curriculum (particularly around notable African descendants) included in academic syllabi. It would also be a period that does not evade governmental matters, and provides room for citizens, particularly youth, to air their fears and experiences. What purpose serves simple recognition of the past when it fails to address the present reality of ultra-nationalist gatherings in the street? Organizations who observe it should not be comforted with the non-confrontational words of “unconscious bias” and sensitivity to minor insults, but faced with the risks that affect everyone if fight against prejudice is not approached earnestly. To summarize, Black History Month should be made current, critical, and responsive. Maybe an complete renaming is in order – Black History is Now Month.
