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It's Black History Month in the UK, and it appears it’s time for a re-evaluation. Over the years, an event that started out as a celebration and reminder of history, culture and the connections between global Black communities, has adopted a business-like atmosphere, broadening to incorporate functions where Black people are remunerated to address Caucasian groups about hidden biases and supportive partnership. The anti-racism rallies of the last decade created a surge in the enterprise of demonstrating racial awareness. But even that moment has passed. The surge has peaked, leaving a sort of hollowed out legacy of what promoting consciousness is for.

The Origins of Black History Month

Initially celebrated in the United States and Canada, Black History Month was created in 1962 as “Negro History Week” by African American historian Carter G. Woodson with multiple days of remembrance and recognition in the second week of February. Black History Month grew out of this initiative and was formally inaugurated in 1970. Now it is celebrated not only in the US and Canada in the second month, but also in autumn in the Britain, Deutschland, Éire and the the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The period has evolved since that time, giving reduced attention to the narratives of colonial slavery and struggles for equality, and greater focus on notable African descendants in politics, culture, and activism, and broadly celebrating the impact Black people have made to mold society. It is in schools where Black History Month is most frequently marked, with lectures and artistic activities. But the method the celebration is commemorated is a manifestation of the political moment. How it evolves 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 address embedded and established prejudice.

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A Troubling Time

Hardly anything shows how critical it is to reevaluate Black History Month better than the current time in which it occurs this year. In the United Kingdom, a revitalized conservative movement in the form of the Reform political group is leading the polls. In the recent season we observed the biggest extreme right demonstration in British history. the Conservative leader, the person of color at the helm of the Conservative party, is a staunch adversary of Black Lives Matter, and we are in a position where a legislator feels emboldened to state that “not seeing any white faces” in parts of a city is a cause for alarm. Simultaneously, ultra-nationalist movements are expanding in the EU as a entirety.

In the US, a colossal assault against inclusion programs and preferential policies has been taken, often successfully, to the top legal institutions of the nation. A drive to erase Black history and narrative from the records is under way. One of the former president's initial presidential directives focused on the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the Smithsonian Institution, claiming they of a “concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation’s history” by depicting the United States “as inherently racist”.

In this context, the celebration illustrates how insufficiently it can be impactful if it is restricted to either obligatory business commemorations, or stripped of political content commemorations of historical achievements, rather than challenging the realities of the present. It also shows how its restricted time span means that it is separated from the wider consistent effort that is required. An academic expert, a prof at an educational institution, expressed it perfectly when she raised concerns about the temporary “tokenism” of the celebration. “The issue with taking a tokenistic approach”, she wrote, “is that it often means that Black History Month becomes a fleeting performance rather than a catalyst for change.”

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Rethinking, But Not Jettisoning

Figuring out how to adjust, modify and expand efforts for equal rights and acknowledgment in such periods of dismay and anxiety is a difficult task. There is a temptation to just discontinue observances such as Black History Month altogether, believing they are no longer suitable, or are remnants of an time that has not worked.

But despite everything, 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 yes, even those talks to businesses – form an framework that a significant effort has been dedicated to. It is there not merely to decline as the situation evolves (and in fact, deteriorates), but to be a vital organism.

So what would a new dynamic Black History Month look like? Well, first, it would be not just one concentrated month: something that is spread out across all seasons (as various establishments are already beginning to do), sections of its curriculum (particularly around historic Black characters) incorporated into academic syllabi. It would also be a era that does not evade political issues, and leaves space for people, particularly the younger generation, to share their anxieties and narratives. What use is mere awareness of the bygone era when it ignores the present reality of far-right rallies in the street? Institutions who observe it should not be pacified with the neutral terminology of “unconscious bias” and awareness of “microaggressions”, but challenged by the risks that impact society if opposition to discrimination is not treated with importance. To summarize, Black History Month should be made contemporary, critical, and reactive. Maybe an complete renaming is necessary – Black History is Now Month.