"Thank you Sister Rosa, you are a star. You started a freedom movement; thank you Sister Rosa Parks" were the words of a song shared during a Black History Month presentation at my elementary school. I couldn't have been much older than 11 years old at the time, but those words still ring in my ear. 
 
Reflecting on our individual and collective histories is important. Similarly, taking the time to consider the things we have been socialized to see and not see is also important. For example, have you considered the lens through which you likely have seen Rosa Parks? This is what Jameson McKenna, Trey Paster and I did as we traveled to Selma and Montgomery last summer with other student-athletes and leaders from the Pac 12, ACC and Big 10 Conferences. It was a powerful experience to see Rosa Parks and the Civil Rights Struggle through a more proximate positionality, as reflected in this video the Pac 12 recently released on the Pac-12 Selma and Montgomery educational experience.
   
Rosa Parks wasn't a passive Black woman who was simply too physically tired from a long day's work to give up her bus seat on December 1, 1955. She was a 42-year-old activist who had been involved in the NAACP since 1943 and her resistance to injustice on the bus in Montgomery that day was intentional, strategic and led to significant change—through a bus boycott that lasted 381 days! 381 DAYS! Auntie Rosa and the leaders of the Montgomery Bus Boycott were not playing! They saw gaps and filled them. It was inconvenient to walk to their destinations, but they sacrificed and improvised to find alternative means of transportation while challenging the system to become more just. 
 
Their willingness to sacrifice for 381 days to bring about change begs the following question for each of us: what are we willing to do for 381 days to secure justice. What would happen if we harnessed the power of a collective commitment to justice and to the pursuit of just goals for 381? I truly believe that if each of us did justice to the opportunities we have each day to do justice—do the right thing, for the right reason, at the right time—not only will we experience excellence in DEIBJ, but we would see progress and success in other metrics of growth and excellence as well. That's right, your grades in class benefit from your commitment to DEIBJ. The culture and climate of your team or office are DEIBJ imperatives. Competitive excellence is enhanced by DEIBJ. 
 
Hopefully during Black History Month this year, you have taken the time to become more educated in Black History, intentionally celebrated the beauty and power of the Black History and the Black experience, and recommitted to accelerating the diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging and justice realities for and with Black people beyond the month of February. 
 
If you haven't made that commitment yet, it is not too late. It's a commitment that grounds our efforts daily at Cal Athletics. We are identifying gaps and seeking to fill them. We are willing to do the inconvenient in our journey to being the industry-standard in DEIBJ in sport. 
 
I hope you are closing out Black History Month feeling inspired, reflective, encouraged, engaged and affirmed—whether you identify as a part of the Black community or not. Black History is American history, and, like Sister Rosa, each of us have a role to play in challenging our systems and structures of oppression to be inclusive, equitable and just. 
 
Finally, it is not too late for you to plan to join us for our Cal Athletics DEIBJ Playbook today—Monday, February 27, between 4-5 pm or 6-7 pm PST—in the Tahir Room of the Cal Football Complex, as we watch a screening of the film "Tales of the Town"—a documentary about the Black experience in Oakland that has been produced by Cal Athletics alum Abbas Muntaqim and Delency Parham. Consider joining us!
 
Happy Black History Month Cal Athletics and our broader Cal DEIBJ community!
 
Dr. Ty-Ron Douglas is the Associate Athletic Director for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging & Justice at Cal Athletics.