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This is Black History Month in the UK, and it feels like it’s time for a rethink. As time has passed, an event that began as a festivity and recollection of history, culture and the connections between international African diaspora communities, has developed a commercial tone, expanding to include gatherings where Black people are remunerated to address Caucasian groups about hidden biases and “allyship”. The anti-racism rallies of the last decade created a surge in the enterprise of demonstrating racial awareness. However, that period has concluded. The wave has peaked, leaving a sort of hollowed out legacy of what raising awareness is for.

The History of Black History Month

First commemorated in the US and Canada, Black History Month was conceived in 1962 as a week dedicated to Negro history by African American historian Carter G. Woodson with a week of celebration and reflection in the February's second week. Black History Month evolved from this campaign and was officially launched in 1970. Today it is observed not only in the United States and Canada in February, but also in October in the UK, Germany, Éire and the the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The observance has developed since that time, placing less emphasis on the histories of colonial slavery and civil rights battles, and more on prominent Black figures in politics, culture, and activism, and widely honoring the impact Black people have made to mold society. 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 political moment. How it develops is a good lesson in how assimilation leads to dismantling: the restructuring of Black History Month has impeded the point of it, which is to address embedded and established prejudice.

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A Disconcerting Period

Hardly anything shows how critical it is to reconsider Black History Month more than the particular moment in which it occurs this year. In the UK, a reemerging right-wing in the form of the Reform party is leading the polls. In the recent season we saw the largest far-right rally in the UK's past. Kemi Badenoch, the person of color at the helm of the right-wing political group, is a strong critic of the racial justice movement, and we are in a place where a legislator gains confidence to say that the absence of Caucasian individuals in certain urban areas is a reason for concern. Meanwhile, extreme conservative groups are growing in the EU as a whole.

In the United States, a massive attack against diversity initiatives and positive discrimination has been carried, frequently with success, to the top legal institutions of the country. A effort to remove African American heritage and experience from the records is ongoing. One of the political figure's initial presidential directives focused on the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the Smithsonian Institution, claiming they of a “concerted and widespread effort to change the national past” by portraying America “as fundamentally prejudiced”.

Against this backdrop, the month illustrates how minimally it can be influential if it is limited to either obligatory business commemorations, or stripped of political content festivities of contributions in the past, rather than challenging the conditions of the present. It also shows how its short period means that it is detached from the more extensive continuous action that is necessary. An academic expert, a prof at University of Greenwich, articulated it most accurately when she voiced worries about the short-term symbolic gestures of the month. “The issue with taking a tokenistic approach”, she commented, “is that it often means that Black History Month becomes a transient display rather than a catalyst for change.”

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Rethinking, But Not Jettisoning

Establishing how to alter, change and broaden actions for racial equality and recognition in such periods of dismay and anxiety is a challenging endeavor. There is a urge to just discontinue events including Black History Month altogether, believing they are simply not fit for purpose, or are remnants of an era that has failed to deliver.

But despite everything, Black History Month, and in fact the complete comprehensive structure and legacy of campaigns for equality – local anti-racism groups, diversity equity and inclusion initiatives, and yes, even those talks to businesses – constitute an infrastructure that a lot of work has gone into. It is there not only to deteriorate as the political landscape shifts (and in fact, deteriorates), but to be a vital organism.

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 distributed throughout the annual calendar (as certain organizations are already starting to implement), sections of its curriculum (particularly around historic Black characters) included in school curriculums. It would also be a time that does not shy away from governmental matters, and allows opportunity for citizens, particularly the younger generation, to express their concerns and stories. What purpose serves mere awareness of the history when it fails to address the current situation of extreme conservative demonstrations in the urban areas? Establishments who celebrate it should not be reassured with the neutral terminology of “unconscious bias” and awareness of “microaggressions”, but challenged by the risks that impact society if anti-racism is not taken seriously. To summarize, Black History Month should be made contemporary, critical, and adaptive. Maybe an entire name rebrand is necessary – Present-Day African Heritage Celebration.