VIDEO: Growing Roses in Concrete by Jeff Duncan-Andrade

This is a very powerful video that I came across recently (again lol). It is a TEDx talk from Jeff Duncan-Andrade about roses growing from concrete. If it sounds like a Tupac poem, it’s because it is. I wanted to share the video of the powerful talk, but also wanted to share the actual poem as well. [Listen to Tupac talk about this concept in this short video clip too]

The Rose That Grew From Concrete

Did you hear about the rose that grew
from a crack in the concrete?
Proving nature's law is wrong it
learned to walk with out having feet.
Funny it seems, but by keeping its dreams,
it learned to breathe fresh air.
Long live the rose that grew from concrete
when no one else ever cared.

Note on Maslow & Blackfoot Teachings

In the video, it references the Maslow Hierarchy of Needs. There was a time in my life where I often referenced Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, but have since learned that much of the thinking behind his pyramid of self actualization can be found in Blackfoot teachings. He was with them in 1938 and came out with the pyramid, which is basically an upside down version of the teaching as I understand it, in the years to follow (source). After a quick online search, the earliest and simplest summary of this can be found from this 2007 web page from the Social Services and Humanities Research Council with the Government of Canada entitled How First Nations Helped Develop a Keystone of Modern Psychology (link).

Why Did I Share This?

I shared this because it moved me. I was feeling pretty sad today, because I can’t be happy every day. In my sadness a video that was referenced in an academic paper that was sent to me last month, lost in my spam folder, came to me in the right moment. It reminds me of all the amazing people in our community (like you!) who have done such an amazing job growing beautifully in environments that tried to push us down. Keep growing, even if you gotta grow through concrete.