Breaking through concrete

If you’re watching the NBA playoffs, by now you’ve seen the Derrick Rose “Just a Kid” commercial. The metaphor in the ad is about a rose that grew from concrete. The narration comes from a poem by Tupac Shakur. He triumphantly states that instead of focusing on the damaged petals of this rose, we would celebrate its will to reach the sun. 

Tupac is right that the extraordinary rose deserves recognition, but we should ask ourselves, why is this the story we buy into as a nation? Is individual aptitude the only component to greatness?

Perhaps now more than ever it is becoming critical that we acknowledge systems of support are also needed for success. Education remains the arena with possibly the largest potential payoff for making these realizations.