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This is Black History Month in the Britain, and it appears it’s time for a reassessment. Over the years, an event that began as a celebration and reminder of heritage, traditions and links between international African diaspora communities, has taken on a business-like atmosphere, broadening to incorporate events where Black people are compensated to speak with white audiences about implicit prejudice and “allyship”. The anti-racism rallies of the last decade generated a rise in the industry of displaying cultural sensitivity. But even that moment has passed. The wave has crested, resulting in a somewhat empty inheritance of what promoting consciousness is for.

The Origins of Black History Observance

Initially celebrated in the US and Canada, Black History Month was established in 1962 as “Negro History Week” by African American historian Carter G. Woodson with seven days of remembrance and recognition in the second week of February. Black History Month grew out of this campaign and was officially launched in 1970. Currently it is marked not only in the North America in winter, but also in autumn in the UK, Deutschland, Ireland and the Holland.

The month has developed since those days, placing less emphasis on the histories of colonial slavery and struggles for equality, and greater focus on influential individuals of color in government, the arts, and social movements, and broadly celebrating the impact Black people have made to shape the country. It is in educational institutions where Black History Month is most regularly observed, with lectures and artistic activities. But the method the month is celebrated is a manifestation of the political moment. How it develops is a instructive case in how assimilation leads to dismantling: the restructuring of Black History Month has impeded the objective of it, which is to address systemic and institutional racism.

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A Troubling Time

Few things illustrate how important it is to reconsider Black History Month more than the particular moment in which it falls this year. In the United Kingdom, a revitalized conservative movement in the shape of the Reform organization is top in opinion ratings. In the warmer months we witnessed the biggest extreme right demonstration in the history of Britain. Kemi Badenoch, the Black leader of the Tory party, is a firm opponent of Black Lives Matter, and we are in a position where a legislator feels empowered to say that the absence of Caucasian individuals in specific city neighborhoods is a source of worry. At the same time, extreme conservative groups are expanding in Europe as a complete entity.

In the United States, a significant offensive against inclusion programs and preferential policies has been carried, frequently with success, to the highest courts of the nation. A effort to remove Black history and legacy from the records is ongoing. One of Donald Trump's initial presidential directives targeted the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the Smithsonian Institution, accusing them of a “concerted and widespread effort to alter the country's historical narrative” by representing the nation “as fundamentally prejudiced”.

In this context, the observance represents how minimally it can be influential if it is limited to either dutiful corporate observances, or depoliticized festivities of historical achievements, rather than confronting the situation of the current era. It also demonstrates how its restricted time span means that it is disconnected from the wider consistent effort that is necessary. A university professor, a prof at a learning establishment, expressed it perfectly when she voiced worries about the fleeting superficial actions of the observance. “The problem with taking a tokenistic approach”, she commented, “is that it frequently results in that Black History Month evolves into a transient display rather than a catalyst for change.”

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Reevaluating, Not Abandoning

Determining how to adapt, revise and extend initiatives for racial equality and recognition in such times of discouragement and concern is a difficult task. There is a temptation to just discontinue things like Black History Month entirely, believing they are no longer suitable, or are remnants of an period that has failed to deliver.

Yet, in spite of all this, Black History Month, and in fact the entire extended network and legacy of activism for racial justice – community-based BLM initiatives, diversity equity and inclusion initiatives, and certainly, even commercial engagements – form an infrastructure that a significant effort has been dedicated to. It is there not only to deteriorate as the political landscape shifts (and in fact, regresses), but to be a living breathing thing.

So what would a contemporary active Black History Month look like? Firstly, it would be extended beyond a brief observance: something that is dispersed across all seasons (as certain organizations are already starting to implement), elements of its material (particularly around historic Black characters) included in school curriculums. It would also be a era that does not avoid governmental matters, and allows opportunity for individuals, particularly youth, to air their fears and experiences. What value has mere awareness of the past when it ignores the current situation of ultra-nationalist gatherings in the public spaces? Organizations who mark it should not be pacified with the passive language of hidden discrimination and awareness of subtle slights, but faced with the threats that impact society if opposition to discrimination is not approached earnestly. Briefly stated, Black History Month should be made current, critical, and reactive. Perhaps an total re-identification is required – Black History is Now Month.