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This is Black History Month in the UK, and it feels like it’s time for a rethink. Over the years, an observance that started out as a festivity and recollection of history, culture and the connections between international African diaspora communities, has taken on a corporate feel, broadening to incorporate functions where Black people are remunerated to talk to predominantly white listeners about “unconscious bias” and “allyship”. The anti-racism rallies of the last decade created a surge in the business of displaying cultural sensitivity. But even that moment has passed. The tide has peaked, leaving a sort of hollowed out legacy of what increasing understanding is for.

The Origins of Black History Celebration

Initially celebrated in the US and Canada, Black History Month was created in 1962 as a week dedicated to Negro history by African American historian Carter G. Woodson with multiple days of celebration and reflection in the second week of February. Black History Month grew out of this initiative and was officially launched in 1970. Today it is observed not only in the United States and Canada in February, but also in autumn in the Britain, Deutschland, Éire and the the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The period has transformed since those days, placing less emphasis on the histories of the slave trade across the Atlantic and civil rights battles, and more on notable African descendants in public life, creative fields, and advocacy, and extensively acknowledging the input Black people have made to influence the nation. It is in schools where Black History Month is most frequently marked, with talks and cultural events. But the manner the month is celebrated is a reflection of the contemporary political context. How it develops is a instructive case in how appropriation leads to weakening: the restructuring of Black History Month has hindered the purpose of it, which is to tackle embedded and established prejudice.

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A Jarring Moment

Little demonstrates how critical it is to reconsider Black History Month more than the specific period in which it takes place this year. In the United Kingdom, a revitalized conservative movement in the guise of the Reform organization is ahead in surveys. In the warmer months we observed the biggest extreme right demonstration in the UK's past. the Conservative leader, the person of color at the helm of the right-wing political group, is a firm opponent of the racial justice movement, and we are in a situation where a elected representative feels emboldened to state that a lack of white people in specific city neighborhoods is a cause for alarm. At the same time, extreme conservative groups are surging in Europe as a whole.

In the US, a colossal assault against DEI and affirmative action has been taken, repeatedly with positive outcomes, to the supreme judicial bodies of the nation. A effort to erase African American heritage and legacy from the records is ongoing. One of Donald Trump's first executive orders targeted the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the prestigious establishment, accusing them of a “concerted and widespread effort to change the national past” by portraying America “as fundamentally prejudiced”.

In this context, the observance symbolises how minimally it can be effective if it is restricted to either obligatory business commemorations, or depoliticized festivities of former accomplishments, rather than addressing the conditions of the present. It also reveals how its limited duration means that it is detached from the more extensive continuous action that is needed. Denise Miller, a professor at University of Greenwich, expressed it perfectly when she expressed apprehension about the fleeting superficial actions of the celebration. “The problem with adopting a symbolic stance”, she stated, “is that it typically leads to that Black History Month evolves into a fleeting performance rather than a driver of transformation.”

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Reevaluating, Not Abandoning

Figuring out how to adapt, revise and extend initiatives for equal rights and acknowledgment in such times of discouragement and concern is a difficult task. There is a urge to just do away with events including Black History Month altogether, thinking they are inadequate for current needs, or are vestiges of an period that has not worked.

However, regardless of the situation, Black History Month, and in fact the whole broad system and tradition of campaigns for equality – local anti-racism groups, inclusion and equity efforts, and indeed, including corporate presentations – form an foundation that a significant effort has gone into. It is there not merely to decline as the situation evolves (and in fact, declines), but to be a dynamic entity.

So what would a new dynamic Black History Month look like? Well, first, it would be more than a single focused period: something that is distributed through the year (as some institutions are already beginning to do), sections of its curriculum (particularly around prominent figures of color) included in academic syllabi. It would also be a period that does not evade political issues, and allows opportunity for citizens, particularly the younger generation, to express their concerns and stories. What use is mere awareness of the past when it fails to address the present reality of far-right rallies in the street? Organizations who celebrate it should not be reassured with the neutral terminology of “unconscious bias” and awareness of “microaggressions”, but confronted with the threats that affect everyone if fight against prejudice is not taken seriously. Briefly stated, Black History Month should be made up-to-date, critical, and reactive. It could be that an entire name rebrand is required – Black History is Now Month.