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We are in Black History Month in the UK, and it appears it’s time for a reassessment. Throughout its history, an celebration that began as a festivity and recollection of heritage, traditions and links between Black populations worldwide, has taken on a commercial tone, expanding to include gatherings where African descendants are remunerated to speak with predominantly white listeners about “unconscious bias” and supportive partnership. The anti-racism rallies of the last decade generated a rise in the business of showcasing anti-racist commitment. Yet, that phase is now over. The tide has crested, resulting in a somewhat empty inheritance of what raising awareness is for.

The Origins of Black History Observance

Originally observed in the United States and Canada, Black History Month was established in 1962 as an observance of African American heritage by Black scholar Carter G. Woodson with a week of remembrance and recognition in the February's second week. Black History Month developed from this movement and was formally inaugurated in 1970. Currently it is marked not only in the US and Canada in February, but also in autumn in the UK, Deutschland, Ireland and the Holland.

The observance has evolved since its inception, giving reduced attention to the accounts of the slave trade across the Atlantic and civil rights battles, and more on influential individuals of color in public life, creative fields, and advocacy, and broadly celebrating the input Black people have made to shape the country. It is in schools where Black History Month is most commonly celebrated, with talks and cultural events. But the way the observance is commemorated is a manifestation of the political moment. How it evolves is a good lesson in how assimilation leads to dismantling: the reshaping of Black History Month has impeded the objective of it, which is to confront embedded and established prejudice.

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A Disconcerting Period

Few things illustrate how critical it is to rethink Black History Month better than the particular moment in which it occurs this year. In the Britain, a revitalized conservative movement in the form of the Reform party is ahead in surveys. In the summer we observed the biggest extreme right demonstration in British history. the Conservative leader, the person of color at the helm of the right-wing political group, is a strong critic of the racial justice movement, and we are in a place where a member of parliament gains confidence to say that the absence of Caucasian individuals in parts of a city is a source of worry. Meanwhile, far-right parties are surging in Europe as a whole.

In the United States, a significant offensive against inclusion programs and preferential policies has been taken, repeatedly with positive outcomes, to the supreme judicial bodies of the nation. A effort to erase African American heritage and experience from the records is ongoing. One of the political figure's early administrative commands targeted the museum of African American legacy, and the renowned cultural organization, accusing them of a organized and extensive campaign to rewrite our Nation’s history” by representing the nation “as naturally discriminatory”.

Given these circumstances, the month illustrates how minimally it can be impactful if it is limited to either routine organizational acknowledgments, or politically neutered commemorations of contributions in the past, rather than confronting the realities of the current era. It also demonstrates how its limited duration means that it is separated from the wider consistent effort that is needed. A university professor, a educator at an educational institution, expressed it perfectly when she expressed apprehension about the fleeting superficial actions of the observance. “The problem with adopting a symbolic stance”, she commented, “is that it frequently results in that Black History Month turns into a fleeting performance rather than a agent of progress.”

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Reevaluating, Not Abandoning

Establishing how to alter, change and broaden actions for equal rights and acknowledgment in such moments of dejection and worry is a challenging endeavor. There is a temptation to just discontinue events including Black History Month altogether, thinking they are inadequate for current needs, or are vestiges of an period that has not worked.

Yet, in spite of all this, Black History Month, and in fact the entire extended network and heritage of activism for racial justice – grassroots Black Lives Matter organisations, inclusion and equity efforts, and certainly, even commercial engagements – constitute an infrastructure that a considerable labor has gone into. It is there not merely to decline as the politics moves on (and in fact, regresses), but to be a living breathing thing.

So what would a fresh vibrant Black History Month seem? Firstly, it would be more than a single focused period: something that is spread out throughout the annual calendar (as certain organizations are already starting to implement), sections of its curriculum (particularly around historic Black characters) incorporated into academic syllabi. It would also be a era that does not shy away from political issues, and allows opportunity for individuals, particularly the younger generation, to express their concerns and stories. What purpose serves simple recognition of the past when it ignores the contemporary truth of ultra-nationalist gatherings in the public spaces? Establishments who observe it should not be comforted with the non-confrontational words of implicit prejudice and awareness of minor insults, but faced with the threats that impact society if anti-racism is not taken seriously. In short, Black History Month should be made contemporary, urgent, and reactive. It could be that an complete renaming is required – Present-Day African Heritage Celebration.