It's Black History Month in the UK, and it appears it’s time for a re-evaluation. As time has passed, an event that was initiated as a commemorative event of the past, cultural identity and bonds between international African diaspora communities, has taken on a business-like atmosphere, broadening to incorporate events where African descendants are compensated to talk to white audiences about “unconscious bias” and “allyship”. The 2020s Black Lives Matter protests created a surge in the industry of displaying cultural sensitivity. However, that period has concluded. The surge has reached its height, leaving a sort of hollowed out legacy of what increasing understanding is for.
Originally observed in the US and Canada, Black History Month was created in 1962 as “Negro History Week” by Black scholar Carter G. Woodson with multiple days of commemoration and observance in the second week of February. Black History Month developed from this movement and was publicly established in 1970. Now it is celebrated not only in the United States and Canada in February, but also in October in the United Kingdom, Deutschland, the Republic of Ireland and the Holland.
The period has evolved since those days, placing less emphasis on the narratives of transatlantic enslavement and fights for racial justice, and increasingly on prominent Black figures in politics, culture, and activism, and extensively acknowledging the contribution Black people have made to shape the country. It is in educational institutions where Black History Month is most frequently marked, with lectures and artistic activities. But the way the observance is commemorated is a indication of the current political situation. How it develops is a valuable example in how co-option leads to erosion: the transformation of Black History Month has impeded the point of it, which is to confront embedded and established prejudice.
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 political group is leading the polls. In the warmer months we observed the largest far-right rally in the UK's past. the Conservative leader, the Black leader of the Tory party, is a firm opponent of Black Lives Matter, and we are in a place where a elected representative feels empowered to declare that a lack of white people in certain urban areas is a source of worry. Simultaneously, extreme conservative groups are growing in the EU as a entirety.
In the America, a colossal assault against inclusion programs and preferential policies has been taken, often successfully, to the top legal institutions of the country. A campaign to erase Black history and legacy from the archives is under way. One of Donald Trump's initial presidential directives aimed at the museum of African American legacy, and the Smithsonian Institution, accusing them of a coordinated and broad attempt to rewrite our Nation’s history” by portraying America “as naturally discriminatory”.
Given these circumstances, the observance symbolises how insufficiently it can be impactful if it is restricted to either obligatory business commemorations, or stripped of political content festivities of historical achievements, rather than confronting the conditions of the contemporary world. It also shows how its restricted time span means that it is separated from the broader ongoing work that is required. An academic expert, a professor at an educational institution, articulated it most accurately when she voiced worries about the short-term symbolic gestures of the month. “The issue with adopting a symbolic stance”, she wrote, “is that it often means that Black History Month evolves into a transient display rather than a driver of transformation.”
Figuring out how to alter, change and broaden efforts for fair treatment and appreciation in such moments of dejection and worry is a difficult task. There is a temptation to just discontinue events including Black History Month altogether, believing they are no longer suitable, or are remnants of an era that has been ineffective.
Yet, in spite of all this, Black History Month, and in fact the entire extended network and heritage of campaigns for equality – grassroots Black Lives Matter organisations, diversity equity and inclusion initiatives, and certainly, even commercial engagements – represent an foundation that a significant effort has been invested in. It is there not only to deteriorate as the political landscape shifts (and in fact, declines), but to be a vital organism.
So what would a new dynamic Black History Month look like? Well, first, it would be not just one concentrated month: something that is spread out through the year (as various establishments are already commencing), elements of its material (particularly around notable African descendants) included in school curriculums. It would also be a era that does not shy away from politics, and leaves space for people, particularly the younger generation, to share their anxieties and narratives. What value has basic knowledge of the bygone era when it doesn’t reckon with the current situation of extreme conservative demonstrations in the street? Organizations who mark it should not be comforted with the neutral terminology of hidden discrimination and sensitivity to subtle slights, but challenged by the dangers that impact society if opposition to discrimination is not approached earnestly. To summarize, Black History Month should be made contemporary, urgent, and responsive. Maybe an complete renaming is necessary – Contemporary Black History Month.
Astrophysicist and space technology consultant with 15 years of experience in lunar mission planning and research.
