In the UK Black History Month has been celebrated every October since 1987. Black History Month is an annual event to celebrate and appreciate the contributions of Black people within the diaspora. It was founded by Akyaaba Addai Sebo, a Ghana-born special projects officer at the Greater London Council, and later at the London Strategic Policy Unit.
Officially recognised by the British government, Black History Month remembers the history and achievements of the African diaspora and educates on black heritage and culture in Britain.
1. Framing and narrative
In the1980s the Black community in the UK faced an identity crisis, many Black children would not identify with Africa and were ashamed of being African. Black history month was intended to create a sense of pride and achievement in a community that was ashamed of itself. However, the prevalent stories taught during this time favour the black struggle or suffering instead of the stories which are about Black love, wealth, creation, or resistance. This is not to say that those stories are not significant but rather highlight the minimal visibility of other black stories.
2. A distinct lack of representation
Black people are present at every stage of life, however, there is an oversaturation of black suffering in media and history. Often starting at slavery, a quick stop for the civil rights movement, and finally present-day crime, and yes these stories are important but what about black feminists? inventors? artists? bankers? doctors? educators? There is proof of black Romans, Tudors and the oldest remains found in England have been those of Black people yet still there is a distinct lack of Black people in mainstream media and outside the usual tropes and stereotypes.
3. The othering of Black History
Black History month is supposed to be dedicated to Black people and our overlooked successes and contributions to society, however, because black people are rarely featured in general history this creates an idea that Black history is separate from general history. This soft segregation in how "Black" history is written facilitates the othering of Black People as our history is considered less than. This is best noticed in how Black history is presented and taught, as there is rarely any depth beyond slavery and the Civil Rights Movement and even then it is not shown the same respect as with the Tudors for instance.
4. Erasure of Black People in Mainstream media and general history
The omission of Black people from general history creates an erasure of us in history. The Apollo 11 moon launch is a great example of this as the Black women (Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson, and Dorothy Vaughn) who aided the Apollo moon landing were sidelined and unreported until recently. The film Hidden Figures follows their lives and contributions to the momentous event. This is still the case for Black People in Rock and Roll and many black inventors.
5. Tokenism
Simply put the response to Black History Month can be very performative. For instance, 4 mailboxes in the UK have been painted black and include facts of 4 Black Britons for Black History Month. However, there are thousands of mailboxes in the UK and thousands of Black people who could feature on them. This act simply tries to create some sort of publicly viewed diversity instead of facilitating it. Too many companies and individuals capitalise on the premise of Black History Month without actually supporting it or its importance. The same is true for the Black Lives Matter movement.
All things considered, Black History Month is very important, its a chance for many people regardless of race to see the contributions and importance of Black people in our society. Should history as a whole be more inclusive? in my humble opinion most definitely but we do not necessarily live in a time that reflects this and so to some extent, we take what we can get.