🔗 Share this article

This is Black History Month in the UK, and it appears it’s time for a rethink. As time has passed, an observance that began as a festivity and recollection of history, culture and the connections between global Black communities, has developed a commercial tone, growing to encompass functions where African descendants are compensated to talk to predominantly white listeners about “unconscious bias” and “allyship”. The 2020s Black Lives Matter protests sparked an increase in the business of displaying cultural sensitivity. But even that moment has passed. The surge has peaked, resulting in a somewhat empty inheritance of what raising awareness is for.

The Origins of Black History Celebration

First commemorated in the US and Canada, Black History Month was conceived 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 evolved from this initiative and was formally inaugurated in 1970. Currently it is marked not only in the United States and Canada in the second month, but also in autumn in the Britain, Deutschland, Éire and the Holland.

The observance has developed since those days, focusing less on the narratives of transatlantic enslavement and civil rights battles, and increasingly on notable African descendants in public life, creative fields, and advocacy, and extensively acknowledging the impact Black people have made to influence the nation. It is in learning environments where Black History Month is most regularly observed, with talks and cultural events. But the method the celebration is observed is a manifestation of the current political situation. How it develops is a good lesson in how co-option leads to dismantling: the reshaping of Black History Month has hindered the objective of it, which is to tackle embedded and established prejudice.

---

A Jarring Moment

Few things illustrate how important it is to rethink Black History Month as much as the specific period in which it falls this year. In the Britain, 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. Kemi Badenoch, the African descendant in charge of the Conservative party, is a staunch adversary of Black Lives Matter, and we are in a place where a member of parliament gains confidence to say that “not seeing any white faces” in parts of a city is a source of worry. Meanwhile, ultra-nationalist movements are expanding in the EU as a complete entity.

In the United States, a massive attack against DEI and affirmative action has been brought, often successfully, to the highest courts of the state. A effort to remove the history of people of color and experience from the historical documents is ongoing. One of the former president's initial presidential directives targeted 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 depicting the United States “as inherently racist”.

Given these circumstances, the month symbolises how insufficiently it can be impactful if it is limited to either dutiful corporate observances, or depoliticized festivities of former accomplishments, rather than challenging the realities of the present. It also shows how its restricted time span means that it is separated from the broader ongoing work that is necessary. A university professor, a educator at an educational institution, put it best when she expressed apprehension about the short-term symbolic gestures of the observance. “The difficulty with embracing a superficial method”, she commented, “is that it typically leads to that Black History Month evolves into a brief show rather than a catalyst for change.”

---

Reconsidering, Not Discarding

Establishing how to alter, change and broaden actions for racial equality and recognition in such moments of dejection and worry is a difficult task. There is a temptation to just do away with observances such as Black History Month completely, assuming they are simply not fit for purpose, or are relics of an period that has not worked.

However, regardless of the situation, Black History Month, and in fact the complete comprehensive structure and legacy of campaigns for equality – local anti-racism groups, inclusion and equity efforts, and yes, even those talks to businesses – represent an framework that a lot of work has been dedicated to. It is there not merely to decline as the situation evolves (and in fact, declines), but to be a vital organism.

So what would a contemporary active Black History Month appear as? Firstly, it would be extended beyond a brief observance: something that is spread out through the year (as various establishments are already starting to implement), parts of its content (particularly around notable African descendants) integrated into educational programs. It would also be a era that does not evade political issues, and provides room for people, particularly the younger generation, to express their concerns and stories. What purpose serves mere awareness of the history when it doesn’t reckon with the contemporary truth of extreme conservative demonstrations in the public spaces? Organizations who celebrate it should not be comforted with the non-confrontational words of implicit prejudice and sensitivity to “microaggressions”, but faced with the dangers that impact society if opposition to discrimination is not taken seriously. To summarize, Black History Month should be made up-to-date, urgent, and adaptive. It could be that an entire name rebrand is required – Present-Day African Heritage Celebration.