The annual Black History observance serves as a mirror of the current political climate, so in what ways can we modernize it?
It's Black History Month in the Britain, and it feels like it’s time for a rethink. Throughout its history, an celebration that began as a festivity and recollection of heritage, traditions and links between Black populations worldwide, has adopted a commercial tone, expanding to include functions where individuals of African heritage are paid to talk to white audiences about “unconscious bias” and active solidarity. The anti-racism rallies of the last decade generated a rise in the industry of showcasing anti-racist commitment. However, that period has concluded. The wave has reached its height, leaving a sort of hollowed out legacy of what raising awareness is for.
The History of Black History Observance
First commemorated in the United States and Canada, Black History Month was established in 1962 as an observance of African American heritage by Black scholar Carter G. Woodson with seven days of celebration and reflection in the February's second week. Black History Month developed from 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 UK, Deutschland, Ireland and the the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
The observance has developed since that time, focusing less on the narratives of the slave trade across the Atlantic and civil rights battles, 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 learning environments where Black History Month is most frequently marked, with talks and cultural events. But the method the observance is observed is a indication of the political moment. How it evolves is a good lesson in how appropriation leads to dismantling: the reshaping of Black History Month has hindered the objective of it, which is to address embedded and established prejudice.
A Disconcerting Period
Hardly anything shows how crucial it is to reconsider Black History Month as much as the particular moment in which it occurs this year. In the United Kingdom, a resurgent right in the guise of the Reform party is ahead in surveys. In the summer we witnessed the most significant ultra-conservative gathering in British history. Kemi Badenoch, the person of color at the helm of the Tory party, is a firm opponent of the racial justice movement, and we are in a place where a elected representative gains confidence to declare that the absence of Caucasian individuals in certain urban areas is a cause for alarm. At the same time, far-right parties are expanding in the EU as a whole.
In the United States, a colossal assault against DEI and affirmative action has been taken, often successfully, to the top legal institutions of the nation. A effort to remove the history of people of color and narrative from the archives is ongoing. One of the political figure's initial presidential directives focused on the institution dedicated to Black heritage, and the renowned cultural organization, alleging that they of a “concerted and widespread effort to alter the country's historical narrative” by representing the nation “as fundamentally prejudiced”.
Against this backdrop, the celebration symbolises how little it can be effective if it is limited to either obligatory business commemorations, or depoliticized celebrations of former accomplishments, rather than challenging the conditions of the contemporary world. It also reveals how its short period means that it is separated from the wider consistent effort that is needed. A university professor, a educator at an educational institution, articulated it most accurately when she raised concerns about the fleeting superficial actions of the observance. “The problem with taking a tokenistic approach”, she commented, “is that it typically leads to that Black History Month evolves into a fleeting performance rather than a driver of transformation.”
Reevaluating, Not Abandoning
Establishing how to alter, change and broaden efforts for racial equality and recognition in such moments of dejection and worry is a treacherous thing. There is a urge to just eliminate observances such as Black History Month entirely, thinking they are simply not fit for purpose, or are relics of an era that has not worked.
However, regardless of the situation, Black History Month, and in fact the whole broad system and heritage of activism for racial justice – grassroots Black Lives Matter organisations, inclusion and equity efforts, and certainly, even commercial engagements – constitute an foundation that a considerable labor has gone into. It is there not just to decay as the situation evolves (and in fact, declines), but to be a vital organism.
So what would a fresh vibrant Black History Month look like? Well, first, it would be more than a single focused period: something that is distributed through the year (as certain organizations are already starting to implement), elements of its material (particularly around prominent figures of color) included in academic syllabi. It would also be a period that does not evade political issues, and allows opportunity for citizens, particularly young people, to air their fears and experiences. What purpose serves mere awareness of the past when it ignores the present reality of extreme conservative demonstrations in the urban areas? Organizations who mark it should not be pacified with the non-confrontational words of “unconscious bias” and sensitivity to minor insults, but challenged by the dangers that face all if opposition to discrimination is not treated with importance. Briefly stated, Black History Month should be made current, urgent, and responsive. Maybe an complete renaming is in order – Contemporary Black History Month.
