The Rose That Grew From The Concrete

"You see you wouldn't ask why the rose that grew from the concrete had damaged petals. On the contrary - we would all celebrate its tenacity, we would all love its will to reach the sun. Well... we are the roses, this is the concrete, and these are my damaged petals"... Tupac Shakur (1995).

The Beautiful Rose and Rough Life Beginnings. 

The 'rose', a very beautiful flower because of its glowing and special color, wonderful shape etc is widely revered for many good features which it possesses. Many people use it to express love, propose marriage and friendships, decorate both indoor and outdoor parts of homes, offices and business places, even places of worship. Others use it to express grief, decorate graves, etc.

A rose growing from concrete.

This rose needs a
very fertile soil for it to become that beautiful flower that we all love. But when there is no soil and all that's left is just a land (farm or garden) covered with concrete, it is very rare for any plant (even weeds) to grow on them. Then, a 'miracle' happens when the beautiful rose grows successfully on this concrete.

Expectedly, they cannot grow to become as healthy as those that grew on the fertile soil. They usually have to go through and overcome the most difficult conditions such as those plants that grow in the desert. They usually have damaged and bad petals, the sun scorches them, and they rejoice when they see little water from the rainfall which is very occasional. They have a tough time growing up but the few that survive come out gallantly bright and extremely beautiful. They are successful and proud because they had a worse background (concrete) than those that grew on the fertile soil.

 

The Reality of our Lives Today. 

This is the story of a lot of people today, they are figuratively like the roses who grow from bad and uneasy conditions, bad childhoods, tough lives, etc. These bad conditions are what the 'concrete' represents, they bring about situations that fruatrate the rose (the success hard-earner). In Tupac's song, "Mama is just a little girl", he refers to the situation of the 'black man' (the rose) growing in the 'ghetto' (the concrete) who had damaged petals; which are the scars of their growing up and the pains of their success. The pains which they went through to become successful.

"We will all celebrate its tenacity, we will all love its will to reach the sun". The tenacity (steadfastness) of this rose is very strong and is therefore celebrated because their success stories are the most inspiring to others. How they achieved success is very groundbreaking and worthy of emulation. Notable examples of people who experienced this include Tupac Amaru Shakur, Malcolm X, Ben Carson, etc.

The Lesson Learned From The Rose...

The lesson learned from the story of the rose is that no matter how rough ones situation is, no matter how bad and rough the road may be; there is always a bright light at the end of the tunnel. No matter the troubles we face in life's journey, there is hope for a better day, for change to happen, for success to happen, for beauty to take over.

I believe the story of the rose is my story, the concrete are life's challenges, they are what shape me, they are what makes me tough, they are brings about the best in me, they are the conditions that makes me successful. The 'damaged petals' of the beautiful rose that grew from the concrete are evidences to show that success was achieved at a price, that life is not easy, that it didn't pass through unscathed, and that pain comes before pleasure..

Written by:
Ashibuogwu Emeka Victor
© 2017