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It's Black History Month in the United Kingdom, and it feels like it’s time for a reassessment. As time has passed, an event that began as a celebration and reminder of history, culture and the connections between international African diaspora communities, has adopted a business-like atmosphere, expanding to include gatherings where Black people are paid to talk to white audiences about “unconscious bias” and supportive partnership. The anti-racism rallies of the last decade sparked an increase in the business of showcasing anti-racist commitment. Yet, that phase is now over. The tide has reached its height, producing a diluted aftermath of what promoting consciousness is for.

The History of Black History Celebration

First commemorated in the US and Canada, Black History Month was conceived in 1962 as “Negro History Week” by African American historian Carter G. Woodson with multiple days of remembrance and recognition in the February's second week. Black History Month grew out of this movement and was formally inaugurated in 1970. Now it is celebrated not only in the US and Canada in the second month, but also in the tenth month in the Britain, the Federal Republic of Germany, Ireland and the Holland.

The month has transformed since those days, giving reduced attention to the accounts of colonial slavery and civil rights battles, and greater focus on prominent Black figures in public life, creative fields, and advocacy, and widely honoring the contribution Black people have made to mold society. It is in schools where Black History Month is most regularly observed, with lectures and artistic activities. But the way the month is observed is a manifestation of the contemporary political context. How it evolves is a good lesson in how appropriation leads to erosion: the restructuring of Black History Month has stymied the objective of it, which is to tackle systemic and institutional racism.

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A Jarring Moment

Few things illustrate how critical it is to rethink Black History Month more than the specific period in which it occurs this year. In the Britain, a resurgent right in the shape of the Reform party is leading the polls. In the warmer months we witnessed the most significant ultra-conservative gathering in the UK's past. Kemi Badenoch, the African descendant in charge of the Tory party, is a strong critic of Black Lives Matter, and we are in a place where a legislator feels emboldened to state that “not seeing any white faces” in parts of a city is a cause for alarm. Meanwhile, ultra-nationalist movements are surging in the EU as a entirety.

In the America, a colossal assault against DEI and affirmative action has been carried, repeatedly with positive outcomes, to the top legal institutions of the nation. A campaign to remove the history of people of color and legacy from the historical documents is in progress. One of the former president's first executive orders aimed at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the renowned cultural organization, claiming they of a “concerted and widespread effort to change the national past” by portraying America “as naturally discriminatory”.

Against this backdrop, the celebration symbolises how little it can be influential if it is confined to either dutiful corporate observances, or depoliticized celebrations of former accomplishments, rather than confronting the situation of the present. 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 raised concerns about the temporary “tokenism” of the month. “The issue with taking a tokenistic approach”, she commented, “is that it typically leads to that Black History Month becomes a fleeting performance rather than a driver of transformation.”

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Reconsidering, Not Discarding

Determining how to adapt, revise and extend actions for racial equality and recognition in such moments of dejection and worry is a difficult task. There is a urge to just do away with things like Black History Month entirely, thinking they are simply not fit for purpose, or are vestiges of an era that has failed to deliver.

But despite everything, Black History Month, and in fact the whole broad system and heritage of campaigns for equality – grassroots Black Lives Matter organisations, DEI programs, and indeed, including corporate presentations – form an foundation that a lot of work has been dedicated to. It is there not merely to decline as the politics moves on (and in fact, regresses), but to be a living breathing thing.

So what would a new dynamic Black History Month look like? To begin with, it would be more than a single focused period: something that is spread out through the year (as some institutions are already beginning to do), parts of its content (particularly around notable African descendants) included in academic syllabi. It would also be a period that does not shy away from governmental matters, and provides room for people, particularly young people, to air their fears and experiences. What use is basic knowledge of the past when it ignores the present reality of ultra-nationalist gatherings in the public spaces? Organizations who celebrate it should not be pacified with the passive language of “unconscious bias” and awareness of minor insults, but faced with the dangers that impact society if fight against prejudice is not treated with importance. In short, Black History Month should be made current, pressing, and adaptive. It could be that an complete renaming is necessary – Contemporary Black History Month.