🔗 Share this article

This is Black History Month in the United Kingdom, and it seems it’s time for a reassessment. Throughout its history, an event that started out as a festivity and recollection of history, culture and the connections between Black populations worldwide, has developed a commercial tone, growing to encompass gatherings where individuals of African heritage are remunerated to address white audiences about hidden biases and active solidarity. The demonstrations for racial justice in the 2020s created a surge in the enterprise of demonstrating racial awareness. Yet, that phase is now over. The surge has peaked, resulting in a somewhat empty inheritance of what promoting consciousness is for.

The Origins of Black History Month

First commemorated in the America and its northern neighbor, Black History Month was established in 1962 as “Negro History Week” 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 initiative and was publicly established in 1970. Today it is observed not only in the North America in February, but also in October in the UK, Deutschland, Éire and the the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The month has developed since its inception, placing less emphasis on the accounts of transatlantic enslavement and fights for racial justice, and more on influential individuals of color in politics, culture, and activism, and widely honoring the input Black people have made to shape the country. It is in educational institutions where Black History Month is most regularly observed, with lectures and artistic activities. But the method the celebration is celebrated is a reflection of the political moment. How it develops is a valuable example in how assimilation leads to weakening: the restructuring of Black History Month has impeded the purpose of it, which is to tackle structural and organizational discrimination.

---

A Jarring Moment

Few things illustrate how critical it is to reevaluate Black History Month more than the particular moment in which it occurs this year. In the UK, a resurgent right in the shape of the Reform party is leading the polls. In the warmer months we observed the largest far-right rally in the UK's past. a prominent political figure, the Black leader of the right-wing political group, is a strong critic of Black Lives Matter, and we are in a position where a elected representative gains confidence to state that a lack of white people in specific city neighborhoods is a reason for concern. Simultaneously, ultra-nationalist movements are surging in the European continent as a complete entity.

In the US, a significant offensive against inclusion programs and preferential policies has been brought, repeatedly with positive outcomes, to the supreme judicial bodies of the state. A campaign to remove Black history and legacy from the archives is under way. One of Donald Trump's initial presidential directives aimed at the museum of African American legacy, and the renowned cultural organization, alleging that they of a “concerted and widespread effort to alter the country's historical narrative” by depicting the United States “as naturally discriminatory”.

Against this backdrop, the month illustrates how little it can be influential if it is confined to either obligatory business commemorations, or stripped of political content festivities of contributions in the past, rather than challenging the realities of the current era. It also shows how its limited duration means that it is disconnected from the more extensive continuous action that is needed. An academic expert, a professor at University of Greenwich, put it best when she expressed apprehension 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 fleeting performance rather than a catalyst for change.”

---

Rethinking, But Not Jettisoning

Establishing how to alter, change and broaden efforts for racial equality and recognition in such times of discouragement and concern is a difficult task. There is a urge to just eliminate events including Black History Month completely, thinking they are inadequate for current needs, or are vestiges of an period that has not worked.

However, regardless of the situation, Black History Month, and in fact the entire extended network and heritage of racial movements – local anti-racism groups, DEI programs, and yes, even those talks to businesses – constitute an infrastructure 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 dynamic entity.

So what would a contemporary active Black History Month appear as? Firstly, it would be extended beyond a brief observance: something that is distributed through the year (as some institutions are already commencing), elements of its material (particularly around historic Black characters) included in school curriculums. It would also be a era that does not avoid politics, and leaves space for individuals, particularly youth, to express their concerns and stories. What value has simple recognition of the history when it fails to address the present reality of extreme conservative demonstrations in the public spaces? Organizations who observe it should not be comforted with the passive language of “unconscious bias” and sensitivity to minor insults, but challenged by the dangers that face all if fight against prejudice is not approached earnestly. In short, Black History Month should be made current, critical, and reactive. It could be that an complete renaming is required – Contemporary Black History Month.