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This is Black History Month in the UK, and it appears it’s time for a reassessment. Over the years, an celebration that was initiated as a festivity and recollection of the past, cultural identity and bonds between international African diaspora communities, has developed a commercial tone, expanding to include events where individuals of African heritage are remunerated to address predominantly white listeners about “unconscious bias” and “allyship”. The anti-racism rallies of the last decade sparked an increase in the enterprise of displaying cultural sensitivity. But even that moment has passed. The tide has peaked, leaving a sort of hollowed out legacy of what raising awareness is for.

The Origins of Black History Observance

Initially celebrated in the America and its northern neighbor, Black History Month was created in 1962 as an observance of African American heritage by African American historian Carter G. Woodson with multiple days of celebration and reflection in the middle of February. Black History Month developed from this initiative and was formally inaugurated in 1970. Currently it is marked not only in the US and Canada in the second month, but also in autumn in the UK, Deutschland, Ireland and the Holland.

The observance has evolved since its inception, placing less emphasis on the narratives of colonial slavery and struggles for equality, and more on influential individuals of color in government, the arts, and social movements, and extensively acknowledging the impact Black people have made to shape the country. It is in schools where Black History Month is most regularly observed, with discussions and heritage festivities. But the way the month is commemorated is a indication of the contemporary political context. How it evolves is a good lesson in how appropriation leads to weakening: the reshaping of Black History Month has stymied the purpose of it, which is to tackle structural and organizational discrimination.

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A Troubling Time

Few things illustrate how critical it is to rethink Black History Month better than the specific period in which it takes place this year. In the UK, a revitalized conservative movement in the shape of the Reform organization is leading the polls. In the warmer months we observed the largest far-right rally in British history. the Conservative leader, the Black leader of the Tory party, is a strong critic of anti-racism activism, and we are in a place where a member of parliament feels empowered to say that “not seeing any white faces” in certain urban areas is a cause for alarm. Simultaneously, far-right parties are surging in Europe as a complete entity.

In the America, a colossal assault against diversity initiatives and positive discrimination has been carried, often successfully, to the highest courts of the state. A effort to erase Black history and legacy from the archives is in progress. One of the political figure's initial presidential directives focused on the museum of African American legacy, and the prestigious establishment, alleging that they of a “concerted and widespread effort to alter the country's historical narrative” by portraying America “as inherently racist”.

In this context, the celebration represents how insufficiently it can be influential if it is restricted to either obligatory business commemorations, or stripped of political content commemorations of contributions in the past, rather than challenging the realities of the contemporary world. It also shows how its limited duration means that it is separated from the wider consistent effort that is necessary. An academic expert, a prof at University of Greenwich, articulated it most accurately when she raised concerns about the short-term symbolic gestures of the month. “The difficulty with embracing a superficial method”, she wrote, “is that it often means that Black History Month becomes a transient display rather than a agent of progress.”

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Reconsidering, Not Discarding

Figuring out how to adapt, revise and extend initiatives for equal rights and acknowledgment in such periods of dismay and anxiety is a treacherous thing. There is a urge to just eliminate things like Black History Month entirely, assuming they are inadequate for current needs, or are remnants of an period that has failed to deliver.

Yet, in spite of all this, Black History Month, and in fact the complete comprehensive structure and heritage of campaigns for equality – local anti-racism groups, diversity equity and inclusion initiatives, and certainly, even commercial engagements – constitute an infrastructure that a considerable labor has been dedicated to. It is there not just to decay as the politics moves on (and in fact, deteriorates), but to be a dynamic entity.

So what would a new dynamic Black History Month appear as? Firstly, it would be more than a single focused period: something that is dispersed across all seasons (as certain organizations are already beginning to do), sections of its curriculum (particularly around prominent figures of color) included in educational programs. It would also be a era that does not shy away from politics, and leaves space for individuals, particularly young people, to share their anxieties and narratives. What value has simple recognition of the history when it doesn’t reckon with the current situation of far-right rallies in the street? Institutions who celebrate it should not be comforted with the neutral terminology of implicit prejudice and alertness to subtle slights, but challenged by the risks that impact society if anti-racism is not treated with importance. In short, Black History Month should be made up-to-date, critical, and reactive. Maybe an complete renaming is in order – Black History is Now Month.