This is a time set aside each year to be extra intentional in how we consider and study the lessons of Black History Month in our nation.

There is no wrong time to study this, and this is certainly not the only time to study this, but it’s good to bring some intention to the work we do and how we do it.

At first glance, you might not see the effect of Black History in our lives. We are white men. We can, if we so choose, read stories and learn histories that emphasize people who look and think like us. We can blinker ourselves to the belief that we are here because people like us have done everything of importance.

But we choose not to make things that simple.

That’s Briana Scurry. Specifically, it’s young Briana Scurry from her time playing youth soccer (like you) in the Twin Cities (like you). Arguably, the greatest goalkeeper in the history of the United States. Certainly, one of the most impactful athletes of my life time.

I could teach you about Scurry’s superb play. She controlled the goal for the Women’s National Team en route to a World Cup title and two Gold Medals. She was the quintessential American keeper: poised under pressure and fiery in her leadership. But playing very well isn’t where the impact comes from.

I could talk to you about how she broke new ground. She helped to start the agitation for equal pay between the women’s and men’s team. She was a woman of color and an openly gay athlete at a time where it was difficult to be either, let alone both. But if we simply celebrate the accomplishments you miss out on the context that surrounds them.

I could discuss the challenges that complicated her life: the concussion that ended her career: the depression that endangered her life and her livelihood. But, fixation with someone’s problems can create a simplified view that makes someone little more than a victim of circumstances.

The truth is that Briana Scurry has handled all of those issues and more. She has gone through trials and tribulations and emerged the other side with a full sense of who she is and who she wants to be. Briana’s play created one of my most lasting memories of soccer, one that influences my work with it even now. Her historic legacy shows us there’s progress to be made and celebrations that go far beyond winning and losing. Her perseverance reminds us that there is much more humanity in our heroes than we acknowledge when we fret over wins and losses.

Briana Scurry’s story is much more than one post, or one game, or one lesson. She shows that there’s so much to see and to learn and to accept and to do if we open ourselves to everyone else. That’s what serves us best during these months of special celebration: it’s not a single lesson, or a particular inspiration. The lives don’t have meaning because they touch us, they are important because they are so complex, and remind us that we are all complex.

We contain multitudes. And everyone is better for it.