This commemorative month serves as a mirror of the prevailing political atmosphere, so how do we revamp it?

It's Black History Month in the UK, and it feels like it’s time for a re-evaluation. Throughout its history, an celebration that started out as a commemorative event of heritage, traditions and links between Black populations worldwide, has taken on a corporate feel, expanding to include events where individuals of African heritage are paid to address predominantly white listeners about “unconscious bias” and active solidarity. The 2020s Black Lives Matter protests generated a rise in the industry of displaying cultural sensitivity. However, that period has concluded. The tide has peaked, producing a diluted aftermath of what increasing understanding is for.

The Background 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 African American historian Carter G. Woodson with a week of remembrance and recognition in the second week of February. Black History Month evolved from this movement and was officially launched in 1970. Now it is celebrated not only in the United States and Canada in February, but also in autumn in the UK, Deutschland, the Republic of Ireland and the the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The period has evolved since that time, placing less emphasis on the histories of colonial slavery and civil rights battles, and more on prominent Black figures in government, the arts, and social movements, and broadly celebrating the contribution Black people have made to mold society. It is in schools where Black History Month is most commonly celebrated, with discussions and heritage festivities. But the manner the observance is observed is a manifestation of the current political situation. How it evolves is a good lesson in how co-option leads to erosion: the reshaping of Black History Month has hindered the purpose of it, which is to confront structural and organizational discrimination.

A Disconcerting Period

Hardly anything shows how crucial it is to reconsider Black History Month better than the specific period in which it falls this year. In the United Kingdom, a revitalized conservative movement in the guise of the Reform party is leading the polls. In the warmer months we observed the biggest extreme right demonstration in British history. a prominent political figure, the person of color at the helm of the right-wing political group, is a strong critic of Black Lives Matter, and we are in a place where a member of parliament feels emboldened to declare that the absence of Caucasian individuals in parts of a city is a reason for concern. Simultaneously, extreme conservative groups are expanding in the European continent as a complete entity.

In the America, a significant offensive against DEI and affirmative action has been taken, repeatedly with positive outcomes, to the top legal institutions of the nation. A effort to remove Black history and experience from the historical documents is ongoing. One of Donald Trump's initial presidential directives aimed at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the prestigious establishment, alleging that they of a “concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation’s history” by representing the nation “as fundamentally prejudiced”.

Given these circumstances, the observance represents how little it can be effective if it is limited to either routine organizational acknowledgments, or politically neutered celebrations of former accomplishments, rather than addressing the situation of the contemporary world. It also demonstrates how its restricted time span means that it is disconnected from the broader ongoing work that is necessary. A university professor, a educator at University of Greenwich, put it best when she voiced worries about the short-term symbolic gestures of the month. “The issue with adopting a symbolic stance”, she commented, “is that it typically leads to that Black History Month evolves into a transient display rather than a driver of transformation.”

Reevaluating, Not Abandoning

Determining how to alter, change and broaden initiatives for equal rights and acknowledgment in such times of discouragement and concern is a treacherous thing. There is a temptation to just eliminate things like Black History Month altogether, thinking they are simply not fit for purpose, or are vestiges of an time that has not worked.

But despite everything, Black History Month, and in fact the whole broad system and legacy of racial movements – grassroots Black Lives Matter organisations, inclusion and equity efforts, and certainly, even commercial engagements – constitute an framework that a significant effort has gone into. It is there not only to deteriorate as the political landscape shifts (and in fact, deteriorates), but to be a vital organism.

So what would a fresh vibrant Black History Month look like? Firstly, it would be more than a single focused period: something that is spread out throughout the annual calendar (as some institutions are already commencing), parts of its content (particularly around prominent figures of color) integrated into school curriculums. It would also be a period that does not evade politics, and leaves space for people, particularly the younger generation, to share their anxieties and narratives. What use is basic knowledge of the bygone era when it fails to address the contemporary truth of far-right rallies in the public spaces? Institutions who celebrate it should not be reassured with the passive language of hidden discrimination and awareness of “microaggressions”, but faced with the threats that impact society if fight against prejudice is not taken seriously. In short, Black History Month should be made contemporary, critical, and responsive. Perhaps an total re-identification is in order – Present-Day African Heritage Celebration.