Black History Month acts as a gauge of the prevailing political atmosphere, so how do we revamp it?
We are in Black History Month in the Britain, and it seems it’s time for a re-evaluation. As time has passed, an observance that started out as a commemorative event of the past, cultural identity and bonds between international African diaspora communities, has developed a commercial tone, broadening to incorporate gatherings where African descendants are remunerated to talk to white audiences about “unconscious bias” and “allyship”. The anti-racism rallies of the last decade generated a rise in the business of showcasing anti-racist commitment. However, that period has concluded. The tide has reached its height, leaving a sort of hollowed out legacy of what promoting consciousness is for.
The Background of Black History Observance
First commemorated in the US and Canada, Black History Month was conceived in 1962 as a week dedicated to Negro history by Black scholar Carter G. Woodson with seven days of commemoration and observance in the middle of February. Black History Month developed from this movement and was formally inaugurated in 1970. Currently it is marked not only in the North America in February, but also in October in the Britain, the Federal Republic of Germany, Ireland and the Holland.
The period has transformed since those days, focusing less on the accounts of the slave trade across the Atlantic and civil rights battles, and greater focus on influential individuals of color in government, the arts, and social movements, and broadly celebrating the impact Black people have made to influence the nation. It is in educational institutions where Black History Month is most regularly observed, with talks and cultural events. But the manner the month is observed is a indication of the contemporary political context. How it develops is a valuable example in how co-option leads to erosion: the transformation of Black History Month has impeded the purpose of it, which is to confront embedded and established prejudice.
A Troubling Time
Hardly anything shows how crucial it is to reevaluate Black History Month better than the current time in which it takes place this year. In the Britain, a revitalized conservative movement in the guise of the Reform political group is ahead in surveys. In the recent season we witnessed the largest far-right rally in the history of Britain. the Conservative leader, the Black leader of the right-wing political group, is a firm opponent of the racial justice movement, and we are in a place where a legislator gains confidence to declare that “not seeing any white faces” in parts of a city is a source of worry. Meanwhile, far-right parties are growing in the European continent as a complete entity.
In the America, a significant offensive against inclusion programs and preferential policies has been taken, often successfully, to the highest courts of the nation. A campaign to remove African American heritage and experience from the records is ongoing. One of the former president's early administrative commands focused on the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the Smithsonian Institution, alleging that they of a “concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation’s history” by portraying America “as inherently racist”.
Against this backdrop, the month represents how minimally it can be impactful if it is limited to either obligatory business commemorations, or stripped of political content commemorations of contributions in the past, rather than confronting the situation of the contemporary world. It also shows how its short period means that it is separated from the more extensive continuous action that is required. A university professor, a prof at an educational institution, expressed it perfectly when she expressed apprehension about the short-term symbolic gestures of the month. “The difficulty with taking a tokenistic approach”, she commented, “is that it typically leads to that Black History Month turns into a brief show rather than a agent of progress.”
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 things like Black History Month entirely, believing they are no longer suitable, or are relics of an time that has been ineffective.
But despite everything, Black History Month, and in fact the complete comprehensive structure and tradition of racial movements – grassroots Black Lives Matter organisations, diversity equity and inclusion initiatives, and certainly, even commercial engagements – represent an infrastructure that a lot of work has been dedicated to. It is there not merely to decline as the political landscape shifts (and in fact, declines), but to be a vital organism.
So what would a fresh vibrant Black History Month seem? Well, first, it would be more than a single focused period: something that is spread out throughout the annual calendar (as certain organizations are already starting to implement), parts of its content (particularly around historic Black characters) included in academic syllabi. It would also be a period that does not evade politics, and allows opportunity for citizens, particularly youth, to share their anxieties and narratives. What purpose serves simple recognition of the bygone era when it fails to address the present reality of far-right rallies in the urban areas? Establishments who mark it should not be comforted with the passive language of “unconscious bias” and awareness of “microaggressions”, but confronted with the risks that affect everyone if anti-racism is not treated with importance. Briefly stated, Black History Month should be made contemporary, urgent, and responsive. Maybe an complete renaming is required – Contemporary Black History Month.
