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This is Black History Month in the United Kingdom, and it appears it’s time for a reassessment. As time has passed, an celebration that started out as a commemorative event of heritage, traditions and links between global Black communities, has taken on a commercial tone, broadening to incorporate gatherings where Black people are paid to speak with predominantly white listeners about implicit prejudice and supportive partnership. The 2020s Black Lives Matter protests created a surge in the business of showcasing anti-racist commitment. But even that moment has passed. The surge has peaked, producing a diluted aftermath of what increasing understanding is for.

The Origins of Black History Observance

Initially celebrated in the US and Canada, Black History Month was created in 1962 as a week dedicated to Negro history by Black scholar Carter G. Woodson with seven days of celebration and reflection in the February's second week. Black History Month developed from this movement and was publicly established in 1970. Today it is observed not only in the United States and Canada in the second month, but also in autumn in the Britain, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Republic of Ireland and the Netherlands.

The observance has developed since those days, placing less emphasis on the histories of colonial slavery and struggles for equality, and increasingly on prominent Black figures in government, the arts, and social movements, and widely honoring the impact Black people have made to shape the country. It is in educational institutions where Black History Month is most frequently marked, with talks and cultural events. But the way the month is celebrated is a manifestation of the current political situation. How it progresses is a good lesson in how assimilation leads to weakening: the transformation of Black History Month has hindered the point of it, which is to confront embedded and established prejudice.

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A Jarring Moment

Little demonstrates how critical it is to rethink Black History Month as much as the current time in which it occurs this year. In the UK, a revitalized conservative movement in the form of the Reform organization is leading the polls. In the recent season we observed the most significant ultra-conservative gathering in the history of Britain. Kemi Badenoch, the Black leader of the right-wing political group, is a strong critic of Black Lives Matter, and we are in a situation where a member of parliament gains confidence to state that a lack of white people in specific city neighborhoods is a cause for alarm. At the same time, ultra-nationalist movements are growing in Europe as a whole.

In the United States, a significant offensive against inclusion programs and preferential policies has been taken, repeatedly with positive outcomes, to the highest courts of the country. A drive to remove African American heritage and experience from the archives is in progress. One of Donald Trump's first executive orders aimed at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the prestigious establishment, alleging that they of a coordinated and broad attempt to rewrite our Nation’s history” by portraying America “as inherently racist”.

In this context, the month illustrates how insufficiently it can be impactful if it is confined to either dutiful corporate observances, or depoliticized commemorations of contributions in the past, rather than confronting the situation of the contemporary world. It also shows how its limited duration means that it is disconnected from the wider consistent effort that is required. An academic expert, a prof at University of Greenwich, expressed it perfectly when she voiced worries about the short-term symbolic gestures of the celebration. “The problem with taking a tokenistic approach”, she commented, “is that it typically leads to that Black History Month becomes a brief show rather than a catalyst for change.”

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Rethinking, But Not Jettisoning

Figuring out how to adjust, modify and expand initiatives for racial equality and recognition in such moments of dejection and worry is a treacherous thing. There is a urge to just do away with events including Black History Month completely, thinking they are simply not fit for purpose, or are vestiges of an era that has been ineffective.

Yet, in spite of all this, Black History Month, and in fact the entire extended network and tradition of activism for racial justice – local anti-racism groups, inclusion and equity efforts, and certainly, even commercial engagements – represent an framework that a lot of work has been invested in. It is there not just to decay as the political landscape shifts (and in fact, declines), but to be a living breathing thing.

So what would a contemporary active Black History Month seem? To begin with, it would be more than a single focused period: something that is spread out through the year (as various establishments are already beginning to do), elements of its material (particularly around prominent figures of color) integrated into academic syllabi. It would also be a time that does not evade political issues, and leaves space for citizens, particularly young people, to express their concerns and stories. What value has mere awareness of the bygone era when it fails to address the current situation of ultra-nationalist gatherings in the public spaces? Organizations who mark it should not be reassured with the neutral terminology of hidden discrimination and awareness of “microaggressions”, but faced with the dangers that impact society if anti-racism is not taken seriously. In short, Black History Month should be made current, critical, and adaptive. It could be that an complete renaming is in order – Black History is Now Month.