ACTIVISTS HERALD A “SECOND FOUNDING” OF THE LEGACY CELEBRATION – LOCAL, NATIONAL, GLOBAL
By Thomas L Blair 23 October 2022©rev
“Time for Change: Action Not Words”: The British Black History Month theme 2022 has a ring of truth about it. Digitally networked advocates are linking people’s demands for cultural representation with action for social justice.
Digital networks producers and users
With more internet and social media users every day, Britain’s Black British Caribbeans and Africans are creating a mass of gigabytes of news, opinions and ideas for heritage enhancement.
Zoom-ers and Tweet-ers raise pennants to Freedom – Black Advocacy, Excellence and Empowerment. Some urge users to Speak Out and Be Heard. Their platforms “celebrate our gifts and forge our future”. Others rally for Black reawakening, resurgence and resilience.
Cultural podcasters create threads of conversations across politics, activism, science, culture, the public sector and business.
Instagram and Facebook postings, mark the month with themed Black study circles, film screenings, exhibitions. Online webinars did deep into the politics of Black culture.
Expert social analyst Professor Abdul Alkalimat lists hundreds of digital networks in his subscriber’s directory of Black History Month in England.1
Action in community, nation and global
Londoners lead the way hosting online “proud to be” conversations, workshops and heritage walks. Celebrants in big cities Manchester and Birmingham network on Freedom – The Black History Experience.
Smaller-scale online initiatives have cropped up in Bristol, Oxford, Leicester, York, Portsmouth, Cambridge, Leeds and Dundee.
Online Black History Month advocates affirm the achievements and contributions of their communities in many countries.
Web organisers in Canada and Germany celebrate Black History Month along with the U.S. in February.
In Ireland, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom they host their own celebrations in October.
Afro-Colombians celebrate their artistic, intellectual, and social aspirations through food, music, art, and local folklore in May.
Brazilian web-sters celebrate Black Consciousness Day in November.
Australia’s Month runs throughout July and is a showcase of Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander peoples and cultures.
Black History Month is political
But there’s something missing in these digital networks. To find out why and what, you have to Dig Deeper – Look Closer- Think Bigger.
On Feb. 7, 1926, educator and historian Carter G. Woodson initiated Negro History Week which led to Black History Month, His mass community-oriented celebration had a political message. As science and creativity drove modern industrial society, therefor education was the path upward and outward toward jobs and freedom.
Faced with virulent negrophobia (or anti-blackness) the task was clear. Affirming Black humanity and culture must be part of the continuing intellectual and political struggles for Black people in hostile societies.
Now, Woodson’s broadside carries as much force in 2022 as it did in 1926. “Time for Change: Action Not Words” is both historically accurate and instructive. The new digital networks must be part of the second founding of Black History Months.
How, you might well ask? Well, they must engage with networking Black political and intellectuals online. In Britain, these include the Black Cultural Archive and the Huntley Archives.
There’s also the Institute of Race Relations, the community-led Ubele Initiative, the George Padmore Institute and the Bernie Grant Archives.
Link poetics to practicalities
Are advocates for change woolly-headed idealists? I think not. Culture needs action politics when hard times and inequality still stalk the streets.
NOW’S THE TIME TO DO IT
- Open up the online Black world with Black History Month directories
- Give a voice to Black Experience and Expression, Aspiration and Action
- Promote policies that get people access to the least-cost instruments of digital production
The goal is a Grand Allyship of digital networks, uniting all sectors, for rebranded, rooted and global Black History Month(s) that lead to real outcomes for Black Futures.
1Black History Month in England 2022 Directory
compiled and distributed by Professor Abdul Alkalimat abdulslist@lists.illinois.edu
UK General links
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6x4lw_CAHkY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2riVCEQyjeQ
https://www.blackhistorymonth.org.uk/
https://www.cultureamp.com/blog/uk-black-history-month
https://www.history.co.uk/article/the-story-of-black-history-month
UK Analysis
https://warwick.ac.uk/services/socialinclusion/calendar/profgusjohn/
https://www.blackhistorymonth.org.uk/article/listings/region/bristol-south-west/linton-kwesi-johnson-anthony-joseph/
https://www.newbeaconbooks.com/black-british-non-fiction/black-history-matters
https://chronicleworld.co.uk/eureka-chronicleworld-on-blacks-in-britain-hits-twenty-five-years/#_INSPIRATION_FOR_ACTION
UK Media
https://issuu.com/blackhistorymonth/docs/bhm_2022_magazine_210x297_web
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/01/black-history-month-launches-in-uk-with-proud-to-be-campaign
https://www.bbc.com/news/explainers-54522248
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/black-history-month-2022-uk-why-is-it-important-why-celebrated-in-october-a4250966.html
UK Historic Places
https://historicengland.org.uk/whats-new/features/black-histories-of-31-places-in-england/
London
https://www.blackhistorymonth.org.uk/listings/region/greater-london/
https://www.visitlondon.com/things-to-do/event/48937377-black-history-month
https://www.soas.ac.uk/black-history-month/
https://www.england.nhs.uk/london/our-work/equality-and-diversity/black-history-month-2021/
https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/communities/communities-london-how-were-improving-equality/black-asian-and-minority-0
https://www.kingston.ac.uk/aboutkingstonuniversity/equality-diversity-and-inclusion/blackhistorymonth/
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2022/sep/ucl-marks-black-history-month-2022
Manchester
https://www.blackhistorymonth.org.uk/listings/region/north-west/manchester/
https://www.manchester.gov.uk/news/article/9115/manchester_s_libraries_to_celebrate_black_history_month
Birmingham
https://www.blackhistorymonth.org.uk/listings/region/west-midlands/birmingham/
https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/culture/events/blackhistory/about.aspx
Portsmouth
https://www.portsmouth.gov.uk/services/community/black-history-month/
Bristol
https://www.bristol.ac.uk/black-history-month/
Oxford
https://www.oxford.gov.uk/info/20007/communities/1224/black_history_month
Cambridge
https://www.wolfson.cam.ac.uk/about/news/wolfson-celebrate-black-history-month-range-events
Leicester
https://le.ac.uk/black-history-month
York
https://www.york.ac.uk/schools-and-colleges/black-history-month/
Essex
https://www.essex.ac.uk/event-series/black-history-month
Dundee
https://www.dundee.ac.uk/engage/newsandevents/black-history-month/
https://warwick.ac.uk/services/socialinclusion/calendar/profgusjohn/
https://www.blackhistorymonth.org.uk/article/listings/region/bristol-south-west/linton-kwesi-johnson-anthony-joseph/
https://www.newbeaconbooks.com/black-british-non-fiction/black-history-matters
https://chronicleworld.co.uk/eureka-chronicleworld-on-blacks-in-britain-hits-twenty-five-years/#_INSPIRATION_FOR_ACTION
UK Media
https://issuu.com/blackhistorymonth/docs/bhm_2022_magazine_210x297_web
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/01/black-history-month-launches-in-uk-with-proud-to-be-campaign
https://www.bbc.com/news/explainers-54522248
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/black-history-month-2022-uk-why-is-it-important-why-celebrated-in-october-a4250966.html
UK Historic Places
https://historicengland.org.uk/whats-new/features/black-histories-of-31-places-in-england/
London
https://www.blackhistorymonth.org.uk/listings/region/greater-london/
https://www.visitlondon.com/things-to-do/event/48937377-black-history-month
https://www.soas.ac.uk/black-history-month/
https://www.england.nhs.uk/london/our-work/equality-and-diversity/black-history-month-2021/
https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/communities/communities-london-how-were-improving-equality/black-asian-and-minority-0
https://www.kingston.ac.uk/aboutkingstonuniversity/equality-diversity-and-inclusion/blackhistorymonth/
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2022/sep/ucl-marks-black-history-month-2022
Manchester
https://www.blackhistorymonth.org.uk/listings/region/north-west/manchester/
https://www.manchester.gov.uk/news/article/9115/manchester_s_libraries_to_celebrate_black_history_month
Birmingham
https://www.blackhistorymonth.org.uk/listings/region/west-midlands/birmingham/
https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/culture/events/blackhistory/about.aspx
Portsmouth
https://www.portsmouth.gov.uk/services/community/black-history-month/
Bristol
https://www.bristol.ac.uk/black-history-month/
Oxford
https://www.oxford.gov.uk/info/20007/communities/1224/black_history_month
Cambridge
https://www.wolfson.cam.ac.uk/about/news/wolfson-celebrate-black-history-month-range-events
Leicester
https://le.ac.uk/black-history-month
York
https://www.york.ac.uk/schools-and-colleges/black-history-month/
Essex
https://www.essex.ac.uk/event-series/black-history-month
Dundee
https://www.dundee.ac.uk/engage/newsandevents/black-history-month/
Global
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/3/black-history-month-what-is-it-and-why-is-it-celebrated
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