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This is Black History Month in the United Kingdom, and it appears it’s time for a rethink. As time has passed, an observance that was initiated as a festivity and recollection of history, culture and the connections between Black populations worldwide, has adopted a business-like atmosphere, broadening to incorporate events where African descendants are remunerated to speak with Caucasian groups about implicit prejudice and active solidarity. The demonstrations for racial justice in the 2020s generated a rise in the business of displaying cultural sensitivity. However, that period has concluded. The surge has crested, producing a diluted aftermath of what promoting consciousness is for.

The History of Black History Observance

Initially celebrated in the US and Canada, Black History Month was conceived in 1962 as an observance of African American heritage by Black scholar Carter G. Woodson with seven days of celebration and reflection in the second week of February. Black History Month evolved from this campaign and was publicly established in 1970. Today it is observed not only in the US and Canada in winter, but also in autumn in the United Kingdom, Germany, the Republic of Ireland and the Holland.

The observance has developed since its inception, placing less emphasis on the histories of colonial slavery and fights for racial justice, and more on notable African descendants in government, the arts, and social movements, and extensively acknowledging the impact Black people have made to shape the country. It is in learning environments where Black History Month is most regularly observed, with talks and cultural events. But the manner the observance is observed is a indication of the contemporary political context. How it develops is a good lesson in how co-option leads to weakening: the restructuring of Black History Month has hindered the purpose of it, which is to confront embedded and established prejudice.

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A Jarring Moment

Few things illustrate how important it is to reevaluate Black History Month more than the particular moment in which it takes place this year. In the UK, a resurgent right in the guise of the Reform party is leading the polls. In the summer we witnessed the most significant ultra-conservative gathering in the UK's past. Kemi Badenoch, the person of color at the helm of the right-wing political group, is a staunch adversary of anti-racism activism, and we are in a position where a member of parliament feels emboldened to state that a lack of white people in parts of a city is a reason for concern. Meanwhile, far-right parties are growing in the European continent as a whole.

In the US, a significant offensive against diversity initiatives and positive discrimination has been carried, frequently with success, to the highest courts of the country. A effort to scrub Black history and narrative from the historical documents is under way. One of Donald Trump's early administrative commands aimed at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the Smithsonian Institution, accusing them of a organized and extensive campaign to change the national past” by portraying America “as naturally discriminatory”.

In this context, the month represents how minimally it can be impactful if it is confined to either routine organizational acknowledgments, or depoliticized commemorations of contributions in the past, rather than addressing the realities of the current era. It also reveals how its short period means that it is separated from the broader ongoing work that is needed. Denise Miller, a educator at an educational institution, put it best when she raised concerns about the short-term symbolic gestures of the month. “The problem with adopting a symbolic stance”, she commented, “is that it frequently results in that Black History Month turns into a transient display rather than a agent of progress.”

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Reevaluating, Not Abandoning

Figuring out how to adjust, modify and expand efforts for equal rights and acknowledgment in such periods of dismay and anxiety is a treacherous thing. There is a temptation to just discontinue things like Black History Month entirely, assuming they are no longer suitable, or are vestiges of an time that has been ineffective.

But despite everything, Black History Month, and in fact the entire extended network and heritage of campaigns for equality – grassroots Black Lives Matter organisations, inclusion and equity efforts, and certainly, even commercial engagements – represent an infrastructure that a considerable labor has been dedicated to. It is there not merely to decline as the political landscape shifts (and in fact, declines), but to be a living breathing thing.

So what would a contemporary active Black History Month seem? To begin with, it would be extended beyond a brief observance: something that is dispersed across all seasons (as some institutions are already starting to implement), parts of its content (particularly around historic Black characters) incorporated into educational programs. It would also be a period that does not avoid governmental matters, and provides room for citizens, particularly youth, to air their fears and experiences. What use is basic knowledge of the history when it doesn’t reckon with the current situation of ultra-nationalist gatherings in the urban areas? Establishments who mark it should not be reassured with the passive language of implicit prejudice and alertness to minor insults, but challenged by the threats that impact society if opposition to discrimination is not approached earnestly. Briefly stated, Black History Month should be made contemporary, critical, and responsive. Maybe an entire name rebrand is in order – Contemporary Black History Month.