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We are in Black History Month in the United Kingdom, and it appears it’s time for a reassessment. Over the years, an celebration that began as a commemorative event of heritage, traditions and links between international African diaspora communities, has developed a business-like atmosphere, growing to encompass functions where Black people are remunerated to talk to Caucasian groups about implicit prejudice and active solidarity. The anti-racism rallies of the last decade sparked an increase in the enterprise of demonstrating racial awareness. However, that period has concluded. The wave has peaked, producing a diluted aftermath of what promoting consciousness is for.

The Background of Black History Month

Initially celebrated in the United States and Canada, Black History Month was conceived in 1962 as an observance of African American heritage by historian of African descent Carter G. Woodson with a week of remembrance and recognition in the second week of February. Black History Month grew out of this initiative and was publicly established in 1970. Currently it is marked not only in the US and Canada in the second month, but also in autumn in the United Kingdom, Germany, the Republic of Ireland and the Netherlands.

The observance has evolved since those days, focusing less on the narratives of transatlantic enslavement and civil rights battles, and more on influential individuals of color in politics, culture, and activism, and extensively acknowledging the contribution Black people have made to mold society. It is in educational institutions where Black History Month is most regularly observed, with talks and cultural events. But the manner the month is celebrated is a manifestation of the political moment. How it progresses is a instructive case in how assimilation leads to weakening: the restructuring of Black History Month has hindered the objective of it, which is to confront systemic and institutional racism.

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A Disconcerting Period

Little demonstrates how important it is to reconsider Black History Month more than the current time in which it takes place this year. In the Britain, a resurgent right in the shape of the Reform organization is ahead in surveys. In the recent season we witnessed the biggest extreme right demonstration in British history. Kemi Badenoch, the person of color at the helm of the right-wing political group, is a strong critic of anti-racism activism, and we are in a position where a elected representative gains confidence to say that the absence of Caucasian individuals in certain urban areas is a source of worry. Simultaneously, ultra-nationalist movements are surging in Europe as a whole.

In the America, a significant offensive against diversity initiatives and positive discrimination has been brought, frequently with success, to the supreme judicial bodies of the state. A campaign to erase the history of people of color and legacy from the historical documents is under way. One of the political figure's early administrative commands 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 representing the nation “as naturally discriminatory”.

In this context, the observance illustrates how minimally it can be impactful if it is limited to either routine organizational acknowledgments, or depoliticized celebrations of historical achievements, rather than addressing the situation of the contemporary world. It also shows how its short period means that it is disconnected from the wider consistent effort that is required. An academic expert, a educator at a learning establishment, put it best when she raised concerns about the temporary “tokenism” of the month. “The problem with adopting a symbolic stance”, she stated, “is that it typically leads to that Black History Month evolves into a transient display rather than a catalyst for change.”

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Reconsidering, Not Discarding

Determining how to adapt, revise and extend actions for equal rights and acknowledgment in such periods of dismay and anxiety is a difficult task. There is a inclination to just do away with things like Black History Month completely, assuming they are inadequate for current needs, or are remnants of an time that has failed to deliver.

But despite everything, Black History Month, and in fact the entire extended network and tradition of racial movements – community-based BLM initiatives, diversity equity and inclusion initiatives, and yes, even those talks to businesses – constitute an infrastructure that a considerable labor has been dedicated to. It is there not merely to decline as the politics moves on (and in fact, deteriorates), but to be a living breathing thing.

So what would a new dynamic Black History Month seem? To begin with, it would be extended beyond a brief observance: something that is distributed across all seasons (as certain organizations are already beginning to do), sections of its curriculum (particularly around historic Black characters) integrated into school curriculums. It would also be a era that does not shy away from governmental matters, and provides room for people, particularly young people, to air their fears and experiences. What use is mere awareness of the bygone era when it doesn’t reckon with the present reality of far-right rallies in the public spaces? Organizations who mark it should not be comforted with the neutral terminology of “unconscious bias” and alertness to “microaggressions”, but faced with the threats that face all if anti-racism is not approached earnestly. Briefly stated, Black History Month should be made current, urgent, and reactive. It could be that an total re-identification is required – Contemporary Black History Month.