The annual Black History observance acts as a gauge 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 re-evaluation. As time has passed, an event that started out as a festivity and recollection of heritage, traditions and links between international African diaspora communities, has adopted a business-like atmosphere, expanding to include gatherings where African descendants are compensated to talk to predominantly white listeners 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. Yet, that phase is now over. The tide has crested, resulting in a somewhat empty inheritance of what promoting consciousness is for.
The History of Black History Celebration
First commemorated in the US and Canada, Black History Month was conceived in 1962 as an observance of African American heritage by African American historian Carter G. Woodson with multiple days of celebration and reflection in the second week of February. Black History Month grew out of this movement and was officially launched in 1970. Now it is celebrated not only in the US and Canada in winter, but also in October in the United Kingdom, Deutschland, Éire and the Netherlands.
The observance has developed since those days, giving reduced attention to the accounts of the slave trade across the Atlantic and fights for racial justice, and more on prominent Black figures in public life, creative fields, and advocacy, and broadly celebrating the contribution Black people have made to influence the nation. It is in schools where Black History Month is most frequently marked, with discussions and heritage festivities. But the manner the observance is celebrated is a manifestation of the political moment. How it evolves is a instructive case in how appropriation leads to erosion: the restructuring of Black History Month has hindered the objective of it, which is to tackle embedded and established prejudice.
A Jarring Moment
Little demonstrates how important it is to rethink Black History Month more than the current time in which it takes place this year. In the United Kingdom, a revitalized conservative movement in the guise of the Reform political group is leading the polls. In the recent season we witnessed the largest far-right rally in the UK's past. Kemi Badenoch, the Black leader of the Tory party, is a firm opponent of anti-racism activism, and we are in a place where a elected representative feels emboldened to say that “not seeing any white faces” in specific city neighborhoods is a cause for alarm. Meanwhile, ultra-nationalist movements are growing in Europe as a entirety.
In the America, a massive attack against DEI and affirmative action has been carried, repeatedly with positive outcomes, to the top legal institutions of the country. A campaign to scrub Black history and experience from the archives is under way. One of the political figure's early administrative commands aimed at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the Smithsonian Institution, claiming they of a “concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation’s history” by portraying America “as fundamentally prejudiced”.
Given these circumstances, the observance represents how minimally it can be influential if it is confined to either dutiful corporate observances, or politically neutered commemorations of former accomplishments, rather than addressing the realities of the contemporary world. It also reveals how its limited duration means that it is separated from the more extensive continuous action that is required. Denise Miller, a professor at University of Greenwich, put it best when she expressed apprehension about the temporary “tokenism” of the observance. “The problem with taking a tokenistic approach”, she commented, “is that it frequently results in that Black History Month turns into a fleeting performance rather than a driver of transformation.”
Rethinking, But Not Jettisoning
Figuring out how to adjust, modify and expand initiatives for racial equality and recognition in such periods of dismay and anxiety is a treacherous thing. There is a temptation to just eliminate events including Black History Month entirely, thinking they are inadequate for current needs, or are remnants of an time that has failed to deliver.
Yet, in spite of all this, Black History Month, and in fact the entire extended network and heritage of racial movements – local anti-racism groups, DEI programs, and indeed, including corporate presentations – represent an infrastructure that a considerable labor has gone into. It is there not merely to decline as the political landscape shifts (and in fact, regresses), but to be a dynamic entity.
So what would a fresh vibrant Black History Month seem? To begin with, it would be more than a single focused period: something that is dispersed through the year (as various establishments are already starting to implement), elements of its material (particularly around notable African descendants) integrated into academic syllabi. It would also be a era that does not shy away from politics, and provides room for individuals, particularly youth, to express their concerns and stories. What purpose serves simple recognition of the bygone era when it doesn’t reckon with the contemporary truth of ultra-nationalist gatherings in the street? Establishments who mark it should not be comforted with the neutral terminology of implicit prejudice and awareness of subtle slights, but confronted with the risks that face all if fight against prejudice is not approached earnestly. To summarize, Black History Month should be made current, critical, and adaptive. Maybe an total re-identification is in order – Black History is Now Month.
