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This is Black History Month in the United Kingdom, and it feels like it’s time for a rethink. As time has passed, an observance that was initiated as a celebration and reminder of history, culture and the connections between Black populations worldwide, has developed a commercial tone, expanding to include events where Black people are paid to talk to predominantly white listeners about “unconscious bias” and active solidarity. The anti-racism rallies of the last decade generated a rise in the industry of displaying cultural sensitivity. Yet, that phase is now over. The tide has crested, producing a diluted aftermath of what increasing understanding is for.

The History of Black History Celebration

Originally observed in the America and its northern neighbor, Black History Month was established in 1962 as “Negro History Week” by historian of African descent Carter G. Woodson with a week of remembrance and recognition in the second week of February. Black History Month developed from this movement and was publicly established in 1970. Currently it is marked not only in the United States and Canada in winter, but also in October in the UK, Deutschland, Ireland and the Holland.

The month has transformed since those days, giving reduced attention to the histories of colonial slavery and struggles for equality, and greater focus on influential individuals of color in politics, culture, and activism, and extensively acknowledging the contribution Black people have made to shape the country. It is in learning environments where Black History Month is most commonly celebrated, with lectures and artistic activities. But the manner the observance is observed is a manifestation of the contemporary political context. How it progresses is a instructive case in how appropriation leads to erosion: the restructuring of Black History Month has stymied the objective of it, which is to tackle embedded and established prejudice.

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A Jarring Moment

Little demonstrates how crucial it is to rethink Black History Month more than the specific period in which it falls this year. In the United Kingdom, a resurgent right in the shape 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 Tory party, is a strong critic of anti-racism activism, and we are in a place where a elected representative feels empowered to say that “not seeing any white faces” in certain urban areas is a source of worry. Meanwhile, far-right parties are growing in the European continent as a complete entity.

In the America, a massive attack against inclusion programs and preferential policies has been carried, often successfully, to the highest courts of the country. A campaign to scrub African American heritage and narrative from the historical documents is under way. One of Donald Trump's early administrative commands aimed at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the Smithsonian Institution, alleging that they of a “concerted and widespread effort to change the national past” by representing the nation “as naturally discriminatory”.

In this context, the observance represents how insufficiently it can be effective if it is restricted to either dutiful corporate observances, or depoliticized commemorations of former accomplishments, rather than addressing the situation of the current era. It also reveals how its short period means that it is detached from the wider consistent effort that is needed. Denise Miller, a professor at a learning establishment, articulated it most accurately when she voiced worries about the fleeting superficial actions of the celebration. “The difficulty 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

Figuring out how to adapt, revise and extend efforts for racial equality and recognition in such periods of dismay and anxiety is a treacherous thing. There is a temptation to just discontinue things like Black History Month entirely, believing they are simply not fit for purpose, or are relics of an time that has failed to deliver.

Yet, in spite of all this, Black History Month, and in fact the entire extended network and heritage of activism for racial justice – local anti-racism groups, DEI programs, and certainly, even commercial engagements – constitute an framework that a significant effort has gone into. It is there not just to decay as the politics moves on (and in fact, declines), but to be a vital organism.

So what would a new dynamic Black History Month seem? Firstly, it would be not just one concentrated month: something that is spread out across all seasons (as some institutions are already starting to implement), elements of its material (particularly around prominent figures of color) integrated into educational programs. It would also be a time that does not avoid politics, and allows opportunity for people, particularly young people, to share their anxieties and narratives. What use is mere awareness of the history when it doesn’t reckon with the present reality of extreme conservative demonstrations in the public spaces? Institutions who mark it should not be reassured with the passive language of “unconscious bias” and sensitivity to “microaggressions”, but faced with the risks that face all if anti-racism is not treated with importance. In short, Black History Month should be made up-to-date, critical, and reactive. It could be that an entire name rebrand is required – Present-Day African Heritage Celebration.