Growing up, I loved Black History Month. In elementary school, it meant performing for the MLK oratorical in a fancy dress, gathering for soul food potlucks and watching “Akeelah and the Bee” on the big projector. There was always a sense of pride for my fellow Black classmates and me in the celebration, and we almost felt like celebrities seeing people that looked like us filling the month’s curriculum.
However, it’s not hard to see the focus of Black History Month has changed in recent years. In tune with most things in our capital-driven country, Black History Month has gone corporate. In our current society, filled with performative activism and forced representation, the boosted diversity messages and ESPN specials just aren’t doing it for me anymore.
I’m tired of watching companies that deny the Black experience and Black voices every other month of the year continue to get by on false statements and ad campaigns.
The NFL is currently boasting a slew of Black History Month special programming on its TV network. The problem is, the NFL is also being slammed with a lawsuit on racism and hiring discrimination from a Black coach in the same month. The NFL corporation can slap as many pre-approved “Let’s end racism together!” messages on their end zones and helmets as it wants, but it still doesn’t make up for the league’s mistreatment of Black coaches and players.
The popular cosmetics company Bath & Body Works is also attempting to capitalize off Black History Month. The brand is promoting a Black History Month collection featuring soaps and candles decorated in festive “African prints and patterns” on existing scents and products. While Bath & Body Works is planning to donate 500,000 of its billion dollar yearly profits to the National Urban League, many are upset with this seemingly performative action.
Simply slapping bright colors and kente cloth on a product does nothing to acknowledge the struggles of Black people or the true reason we celebrate this month. And, BHM themed collections do nothing to make up for centuries of suffering at the hands of the global economic system these companies profit from. These shallow campaigns feel like corporations are simply checking off a box on their diversity requirements in an attempt to not get canceled, and quite frankly I’m tired of it.
As our inboxes and social media timelines fill with empty statements and graphics “celebrating” Black culture, we must continue to see through these corporations’ marketing ploys and demand real accountability and action.
If people want to spend money during Black History Month, we should highlight small local Black-owned businesses. Instead of performative campaigns, companies should spotlight real-life Black stories and directly boost Black organizations.
We don’t just want to remember the past; BHM is also about cementing a better future. This month offers a chance for us to look back at America’s mistakes and rectify them, and these actions are not done through marketing ploys and Instagram infographics.
In the past two years, we have seen extreme anti-Black sentiment and systematic oppression from voter suppression to police brutality. Given this, corporations need to realize that campaigns and diversity messages are no longer enough. The only way to undo the deep-rooted racism is radical action and concrete legislature to correct where our country has continuously failed Black people. So, this Black History Month, we need to demand more and hold America and its corporations more accountable during this celebration.