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I<\/span>t\u2019s Black History Month in the UK, and it feels like it\u2019s time for a rethink. Over the years, an event that started out as a celebration and reminder of history, culture and the connections between global Black communities, has taken on a corporate feel, expanding to include events where Black people are paid to talk to white audiences about \u201cunconscious bias\u201d and \u201callyship\u201d. The 2020s Black Lives Matter protests created a surge in the business of demonstrating racial awareness. But even that moment has passed. The wave has crested, leaving a sort of hollowed out legacy of what raising awareness is for.<\/p>\n <\/span>Evolutionary change \u2026 these days, the month focuses less on the early fight for civil rights and more on figures that left their mark in culture, politics and activism.<\/span> Photograph: AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Originally observed in the US and Canada, Black History Month was conceived in 1926 as \u201cNegro History Week\u201d by African American historian Carter G. Woodson with seven days of commemoration and observance in the second week of February. Black History Month grew out of this movement and was officially launched in 1970. Today it is observed not only in the US and Canada in February, but also in October in the UK, Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands.<\/p>\n The month has evolved since those days, focusing less on the histories of transatlantic enslavement and civil rights battles, and more on prominent Black figures in politics, culture, and activism, and broadly celebrating the contribution Black people have made to shape the country. It is in schools where Black History Month is most regularly observed, with talks and cultural events. But the way the month is celebrated is a reflection of the political moment. How it evolves is a good lesson in how co-option leads to dismantling: the reshaping of Black History Month has stymied the point of it, which is to address systemic and institutional racism.<\/p>\n A jarring moment<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/span>Colossal assault \u2026 the famed Smithsonian Institution has been targeted by the Trump administration.<\/span> Photograph: Andrew Lichtenstein\/Corbis via Getty Images<\/p>\n Little demonstrates how important it is to rethink Black History Month more than the particular moment in which it falls this year. In the UK, a resurgent right in the shape of the Reform party is leading the polls. In the summer we witnessed the largest far-right rally in British history. Kemi Badenoch, the Black leader of the Conservative party, is a firm opponent of Black Lives Matter, and we are in a place where a member of parliament feels emboldened to say that \u201cnot seeing any white faces\u201d in parts of a city is a cause for alarm. Meanwhile, far-right parties are surging in Europe as a whole.<\/p>\n In the US, a colossal assault against DEI and affirmative action has been taken, often successfully, to the highest courts of the country. A campaign to scrub Black history and experience from the archives is under way. One of Donald Trump\u2019s first executive orders targeted the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the Smithsonian Institution, accusing them of a \u201cconcerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation\u2019s history\u201d by portraying America \u201cas inherently racist\u201d.<\/p>\n Against this backdrop, the month symbolises how little it can be impactful if it is limited to either dutiful corporate observances, or politically neutered celebrations of contributions in the past, rather than challenging the conditions of the present. It also demonstrates how its restricted time span means that it is detached from the wider consistent effort that is needed. Denise Miller, a prof at University of Greenwich, put it best when she raised concerns about the temporary \u201ctokenism\u201d of the month. \u201cThe problem with taking a tokenistic approach\u201d, she wrote, \u201cis that it often means that Black History Month becomes a fleeting performance rather than a catalyst for change.\u201d<\/p>\n Rethinking, but not jettisoning<\/strong><\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Nesrine Malik and Jason Okundaye deliver your weekly dose of Black life and culture from around the world<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: <\/strong>Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.<\/span><\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n <\/span>Body of work \u2026 honest conversations need to be had on how to breathe life into the enduring legacy of racial movements.<\/span> Photograph: Christopher Furlong\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Figuring out how to adjust, modify and expand efforts for racial equality and recognition in such moments of dejection and worry is a treacherous thing. There is a temptation to just do away with things like Black History Month altogether, thinking they are simply not fit for purpose, or are relics of an era that has not worked.<\/p>\n But despite everything, Black History Month, and in fact the entire extended network and legacy of racial movements \u2013 grassroots Black Lives Matter organisations, diversity equity and inclusion initiatives, and yes, even those talks to businesses \u2013 constitute an infrastructure that a lot of work has gone into. It is there not just to decay as the politics moves on (and in fact, regresses), but to be a living breathing thing.<\/p>\n So what would a new dynamic Black History Month look like? Well, first, it would be not just one concentrated month: something that is spread out through the year (as some institutions are already beginning to do), parts of its content (particularly around historic Black characters) incorporated into school curriculums. It would also be a period that does not shy away from politics, and leaves space for people, particularly young people, to air their fears and experiences. What use is mere awareness of the past when it doesn\u2019t reckon with the present reality of far-right rallies in the street? Institutions who observe it should not be comforted with the passive language of \u201cunconscious bias\u201d and alertness to \u201cmicroaggressions\u201d, but confronted with the risks that face all if anti-racism is not taken seriously. In short, Black History Month should be made current, urgent, and reactive. Perhaps an entire name rebrand is in order \u2013 Black History is Now Month.<\/p>\n To receive the complete version of The Long Wave in your inbox every Wednesday, please subscribe here.<\/em><\/p>\n This article was amended on 23 October 2025. An earlier version said Negro History Week started in 1962; this should have said 1926.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It\u2019s Black History Month in the UK, and it feels like it\u2019s time for a rethink. Over the years, an event that started out as a celebration and reminder of history, culture and the connections between global Black communities, has taken on a corporate feel, expanding to include events where Black people are paid to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30047,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[706,145,90,3642,1913,9666,9409],"class_list":{"0":"post-30046","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-education","8":"tag-black","9":"tag-history","10":"tag-moment","11":"tag-month","12":"tag-political","13":"tag-reflection","14":"tag-revamp"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30046\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/30047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The history of <\/strong>Black <\/strong>History<\/strong><\/h2>\n