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This is Black History Month in the UK, and it seems it’s time for a reassessment. As time has passed, an event that was initiated as a festivity and recollection of heritage, traditions and links between global Black communities, has developed a commercial tone, growing to encompass events where African descendants are paid to talk to Caucasian groups about “unconscious bias” and “allyship”. The 2020s Black Lives Matter protests generated a rise in the enterprise of demonstrating racial awareness. But even that moment has passed. The tide has reached its height, leaving a sort of hollowed out legacy of what increasing understanding is for.

The Origins of Black History Celebration

Originally observed in the United States and Canada, Black History Month was conceived in 1962 as “Negro History Week” by Black scholar Carter G. Woodson with seven days of commemoration and observance in the middle of February. Black History Month grew out of this initiative and was formally inaugurated in 1970. Currently it is marked not only in the United States and Canada in February, but also in October in the Britain, Germany, Ireland and the Holland.

The observance has evolved since that time, giving reduced attention to the narratives of the slave trade across the Atlantic and struggles for equality, and greater focus on notable African descendants in public life, creative fields, and advocacy, and widely honoring the impact Black people have made to shape the country. It is in schools where Black History Month is most regularly observed, with lectures and artistic activities. But the manner the observance is commemorated is a reflection of the political moment. How it develops is a good lesson in how appropriation leads to weakening: the restructuring of Black History Month has hindered the objective of it, which is to tackle systemic and institutional racism.

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A Jarring Moment

Hardly anything shows how crucial it is to reconsider Black History Month more than the particular moment in which it occurs this year. In the Britain, a revitalized conservative movement in the form of the Reform organization is ahead in surveys. In the summer we saw the biggest extreme right demonstration in the history of Britain. Kemi Badenoch, 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 situation where a member of parliament feels empowered to say that “not seeing any white faces” in certain urban areas is a reason for concern. Meanwhile, far-right parties are growing in the European continent as a whole.

In the America, a significant offensive against DEI and affirmative action has been carried, repeatedly with positive outcomes, to the top legal institutions of the nation. A drive to remove African American heritage and narrative from the archives is under way. One of the political figure's early administrative commands targeted the museum of African American legacy, and the Smithsonian Institution, claiming they of a “concerted and widespread effort to change the national past” by portraying America “as inherently racist”.

Against this backdrop, the month symbolises how insufficiently it can be impactful if it is confined to either routine organizational acknowledgments, or politically neutered commemorations of contributions in the past, rather than addressing the conditions of the present. It also shows how its short period means that it is separated from the broader ongoing work that is required. A university professor, a professor at a learning establishment, put it best when she expressed apprehension about the temporary “tokenism” of the observance. “The issue with taking a tokenistic approach”, she commented, “is that it frequently results in that Black History Month becomes a brief show rather than a catalyst for change.”

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Rethinking, But Not Jettisoning

Establishing how to alter, change and broaden actions for fair treatment and appreciation in such times of discouragement and concern is a treacherous thing. There is a inclination to just eliminate things like Black History Month completely, assuming they are simply not fit for purpose, or are relics of an era that has been ineffective.

But despite everything, Black History Month, and in fact the whole broad system and tradition of racial movements – grassroots Black Lives Matter organisations, diversity equity and inclusion initiatives, and yes, even those talks to businesses – represent an framework that a significant effort has been invested in. It is there not just to decay as the politics moves on (and in fact, declines), but to be a dynamic entity.

So what would a new dynamic Black History Month look like? Firstly, it would be not just one concentrated month: something that is dispersed throughout the annual calendar (as certain organizations are already beginning to do), sections of its curriculum (particularly around notable African descendants) incorporated into school curriculums. It would also be a period that does not avoid governmental matters, and allows opportunity for individuals, particularly young people, to air their fears and experiences. What value has simple recognition of the history when it fails to address the current situation of far-right rallies in the public spaces? Establishments who mark it should not be pacified with the passive language of “unconscious bias” and awareness of “microaggressions”, but challenged by the risks that face all if fight against prejudice is not approached earnestly. To summarize, Black History Month should be made contemporary, critical, and adaptive. Maybe an total re-identification is required – Black History is Now Month.