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This is Black History Month in the United Kingdom, and it appears it’s time for a rethink. Throughout its history, an observance that started out as a celebration and reminder of heritage, traditions and links between Black populations worldwide, has adopted a corporate feel, broadening to incorporate gatherings where individuals of African heritage are compensated to speak with Caucasian groups about hidden biases and active solidarity. The anti-racism rallies of the last decade sparked an increase in the business of displaying cultural sensitivity. However, that period has concluded. The surge has crested, resulting in a somewhat empty inheritance of what raising awareness is for.

The History of Black History Month

Initially celebrated in the America and its northern neighbor, Black History Month was created in 1962 as a week dedicated to Negro history by Black scholar Carter G. Woodson with seven days of celebration and reflection in the middle of February. Black History Month evolved from this movement and was officially launched in 1970. Currently it is marked not only in the US and Canada in winter, but also in the tenth month in the Britain, Germany, Ireland and the the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The month has evolved since that time, placing less emphasis on the accounts of colonial slavery and fights for racial justice, and greater focus on influential individuals of color in politics, culture, and activism, and broadly celebrating the impact Black people have made to mold society. It is in educational institutions where Black History Month is most regularly observed, with discussions and heritage festivities. But the method the observance is observed is a manifestation of the current political situation. How it evolves is a good lesson in how assimilation leads to dismantling: the reshaping of Black History Month has stymied the objective of it, which is to address embedded and established prejudice.

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A Jarring Moment

Hardly anything shows how critical it is to reconsider Black History Month better than the particular moment in which it falls this year. In the Britain, a revitalized conservative movement in the shape of the Reform party is top in opinion ratings. In the summer we saw the most significant ultra-conservative gathering in the UK's past. Kemi Badenoch, the person of color at the helm of the Conservative party, is a firm opponent of Black Lives Matter, and we are in a position where a legislator feels emboldened to say that “not seeing any white faces” in parts of a city is a reason for concern. Simultaneously, ultra-nationalist movements are expanding in Europe as a complete entity.

In the United States, a significant offensive against DEI and affirmative action has been brought, repeatedly with positive outcomes, to the top legal institutions of the nation. A drive to remove Black history and experience from the records is under way. One of the political figure's first executive orders targeted the museum of African American legacy, and the renowned cultural organization, claiming they of a organized and extensive campaign to rewrite our Nation’s history” by representing the nation “as inherently racist”.

In this context, the celebration illustrates how little it can be influential if it is restricted to either routine organizational acknowledgments, or politically neutered commemorations of former accomplishments, rather than addressing the situation of the current era. It also shows how its restricted time span means that it is separated from the more extensive continuous action that is needed. Denise Miller, a educator at an educational institution, put it best when she voiced worries about the short-term symbolic gestures of the celebration. “The difficulty with adopting a symbolic stance”, she wrote, “is that it typically leads to that Black History Month becomes a fleeting performance rather than a agent of progress.”

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Rethinking, But Not Jettisoning

Establishing how to adjust, modify and expand efforts for fair treatment and appreciation in such periods of dismay and anxiety is a difficult task. There is a temptation to just eliminate observances such as Black History Month altogether, thinking they are simply not fit for purpose, or are relics of an period that has failed to deliver.

Yet, in spite of all this, Black History Month, and in fact the whole broad system and tradition of activism for racial justice – local anti-racism groups, inclusion and equity efforts, and indeed, including corporate presentations – represent an infrastructure that a considerable labor has been invested in. It is there not merely to decline as the situation evolves (and in fact, declines), but to be a living breathing thing.

So what would a contemporary active Black History Month look like? Firstly, it would be more than a single focused period: something that is distributed across all seasons (as various establishments are already starting to implement), parts of its content (particularly around prominent figures of color) included in educational programs. It would also be a era that does not shy away from politics, and provides room for people, particularly young people, to air their fears and experiences. What value has basic knowledge of the bygone era when it ignores the contemporary truth of far-right rallies in the urban areas? Institutions who celebrate it should not be reassured with the non-confrontational words of “unconscious bias” and sensitivity to subtle slights, but challenged by the threats that face all if opposition to discrimination is not taken seriously. In short, Black History Month should be made current, pressing, and adaptive. Perhaps an total re-identification is required – Black History is Now Month.