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It's Black History Month in the United Kingdom, and it seems it’s time for a reassessment. Throughout its history, an event that was initiated as a commemorative event of heritage, traditions and links between Black populations worldwide, has taken on a commercial tone, growing to encompass events where African descendants are remunerated to talk to Caucasian groups about “unconscious bias” and “allyship”. The anti-racism rallies of the last decade generated a rise in the enterprise of displaying cultural sensitivity. Yet, that phase is now over. 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 created in 1962 as “Negro History Week” by historian of African descent Carter G. Woodson with a week of commemoration and observance in the second week of February. Black History Month developed from this initiative and was formally inaugurated in 1970. Currently it is marked not only in the North America in the second month, but also in the tenth month in the UK, Deutschland, Ireland and the Holland.

The period has developed since those days, focusing less on the accounts of transatlantic enslavement and civil rights battles, and increasingly on influential individuals of color in public life, creative fields, and advocacy, and widely honoring the input Black people have made to mold society. It is in schools where Black History Month is most commonly celebrated, with discussions and heritage festivities. But the way the month is commemorated is a manifestation of the political moment. How it evolves is a good lesson in how co-option leads to weakening: the reshaping of Black History Month has impeded the purpose of it, which is to tackle systemic and institutional racism.

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A Disconcerting Period

Hardly anything shows how crucial it is to reconsider Black History Month as much as the particular moment in which it falls this year. In the United Kingdom, a reemerging right-wing in the form of the Reform party is leading the polls. In the recent season we observed the biggest extreme right demonstration in the UK's past. Kemi Badenoch, the Black leader of the Conservative party, is a strong critic of Black Lives Matter, and we are in a place where a legislator feels emboldened to declare that “not seeing any white faces” in parts of a city is a source of worry. Simultaneously, extreme conservative groups are expanding in the European continent as a entirety.

In the US, a significant offensive against inclusion programs and preferential policies has been carried, frequently with success, to the highest courts of the country. A campaign to scrub Black history and narrative from the records is ongoing. One of the former president's initial presidential directives targeted the museum of African American legacy, and the prestigious establishment, accusing them of a coordinated and broad attempt to change the national past” by portraying America “as naturally discriminatory”.

Against this backdrop, the month symbolises how little it can be influential if it is limited to either dutiful corporate observances, or stripped of political content celebrations of contributions in the past, rather than challenging the realities of the current era. It also demonstrates how its limited duration means that it is detached from the wider consistent effort that is necessary. An academic expert, a professor at an educational institution, articulated it most accurately when she expressed apprehension about the fleeting superficial actions of the celebration. “The difficulty with embracing a superficial method”, she stated, “is that it typically leads to that Black History Month becomes a fleeting performance rather than a agent of progress.”

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Reconsidering, Not Discarding

Establishing how to adapt, revise and extend initiatives for fair treatment and appreciation in such times of discouragement and concern is a treacherous thing. There is a urge to just eliminate observances such as Black History Month altogether, believing they are inadequate for current needs, or are remnants of an era that has been ineffective.

Yet, in spite of all this, Black History Month, and in fact the entire extended network and heritage of activism for racial justice – community-based BLM initiatives, diversity equity and inclusion initiatives, and yes, even those talks to businesses – constitute an infrastructure that a considerable labor has been dedicated to. It is there not only to deteriorate as the political landscape shifts (and in fact, deteriorates), but to be a living breathing thing.

So what would a new dynamic Black History Month look like? To begin with, it would be not just one concentrated month: something that is spread out across all seasons (as various establishments are already beginning to do), elements of its material (particularly around prominent figures of color) incorporated into educational programs. It would also be a period that does not evade politics, and provides room for individuals, particularly young people, to express their concerns and stories. What purpose serves mere awareness of the bygone era when it ignores the contemporary truth of far-right rallies in the public spaces? Organizations who observe it should not be comforted with the passive language of hidden discrimination and sensitivity to minor insults, but confronted with the risks that impact society if opposition to discrimination is not approached earnestly. In short, Black History Month should be made contemporary, urgent, and adaptive. It could be that an complete renaming is in order – Contemporary Black History Month.