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It's Black History Month in the United Kingdom, and it appears it’s time for a rethink. Throughout its history, an celebration that started out as a celebration and reminder of heritage, traditions and links between international African diaspora communities, has taken on a business-like atmosphere, growing to encompass functions where Black people are compensated to talk to Caucasian groups about implicit prejudice and “allyship”. The 2020s Black Lives Matter protests generated a rise in the business of showcasing anti-racist commitment. However, that period has concluded. The surge has crested, leaving a sort of hollowed out legacy of what raising awareness is for.

The Origins of Black History Month

Initially celebrated in the US and Canada, Black History Month was conceived in 1962 as “Negro History Week” by Black scholar 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. Today it is observed not only in the United States and Canada in the second month, but also in the tenth month in the Britain, Germany, Éire and the Netherlands.

The month has evolved since those days, giving reduced attention to the narratives of transatlantic enslavement and fights for racial justice, and increasingly on prominent Black figures in government, the arts, and social movements, and broadly celebrating the contribution Black people have made to shape the country. It is in educational institutions where Black History Month is most commonly celebrated, with discussions and heritage festivities. But the method the celebration is observed is a indication of the contemporary political context. How it develops is a good lesson in how appropriation leads to dismantling: the transformation of Black History Month has impeded the purpose of it, which is to confront embedded and established prejudice.

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A Jarring Moment

Few things illustrate how critical it is to rethink Black History Month as much as the particular moment in which it falls this year. In the UK, a resurgent right in the guise of the Reform political group is top in opinion ratings. In the warmer months we witnessed the largest far-right rally in the UK's past. the Conservative leader, the African descendant in charge of the Tory party, is a strong critic of Black Lives Matter, and we are in a place where a legislator feels empowered to say that the absence of Caucasian individuals in specific city neighborhoods is a source of worry. Simultaneously, extreme conservative groups are expanding in Europe as a whole.

In the United States, a significant offensive against diversity initiatives and positive discrimination has been brought, repeatedly with positive outcomes, to the highest courts of the country. A effort to erase African American heritage and experience from the records is under way. One of Donald Trump's early administrative commands aimed at the museum of African American legacy, and the prestigious establishment, accusing them of a “concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation’s history” by depicting the United States “as naturally discriminatory”.

Against this backdrop, the celebration illustrates how minimally it can be impactful if it is limited to either routine organizational acknowledgments, or depoliticized commemorations of historical achievements, rather than confronting the conditions of the present. It also demonstrates how its restricted time span means that it is disconnected from the broader ongoing work that is required. Denise Miller, a professor at an educational institution, put it best when she expressed apprehension about the short-term symbolic gestures of the celebration. “The issue with embracing a superficial method”, she stated, “is that it typically leads to that Black History Month evolves into a brief show rather than a catalyst for change.”

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Rethinking, But Not Jettisoning

Establishing how to adjust, modify and expand initiatives for fair treatment and appreciation in such periods of dismay and anxiety is a challenging endeavor. There is a inclination to just discontinue observances such as Black History Month completely, thinking they are simply not fit for purpose, or are vestiges of an period that has failed to deliver.

However, regardless of the situation, Black History Month, and in fact the entire extended network and legacy of racial movements – grassroots Black Lives Matter organisations, diversity equity and inclusion initiatives, and certainly, even commercial engagements – form an infrastructure that a considerable labor has been invested in. It is there not merely to decline as the political landscape shifts (and in fact, deteriorates), but to be a dynamic entity.

So what would a new dynamic Black History Month appear as? Well, first, it would be extended beyond a brief observance: something that is distributed across all seasons (as some institutions are already commencing), elements of its material (particularly around historic Black characters) incorporated into academic syllabi. It would also be a era that does not evade politics, and provides room for citizens, particularly youth, to share their anxieties and narratives. What use is simple recognition of the past when it fails to address the present reality of extreme conservative demonstrations in the street? Establishments who observe it should not be comforted with the neutral terminology of implicit prejudice and alertness to subtle slights, but faced with the risks that impact society if opposition to discrimination is not taken seriously. Briefly stated, Black History Month should be made contemporary, critical, and reactive. Maybe an entire name rebrand is in order – Contemporary Black History Month.