After watching the film on Jeff Duncan Andrade in regards to how the kids in Oakland are growing up, this image popped into my head. I thought about how a child that had been abused there is that one person that see your true beauty and has the courage to tell you how important you are.

At first I thought Jeff was going to go on and on about how Oakland is set up in a way that all of the people in Oakland are set up to kill each other. I was shocked how he began to talk about how the young kids growing up in Oakland suffer from PTSD. They are actually twice as likely to suffer from CPTSD Complex post Traumatic Stress Disorder. This was jaw dropping, because I grew up in Oakland.

His metaphor of a Rose growing up in concrete was beautiful because I thought of the rough edges the young urban youth seem to be and yet they struggle to survive and grow to touch the sun. His idea of changing the layers is what is so surprising to me, the idea that he actually believes that the layers can be changed is what I do not agree with. I think the problem begins with home and how people are raised. I think people have been hurt and are set up to hurt each other and are very territorial. The sense of owning something and being part of something is what they need and if they are not getting it from home that it is going to be a tough job to accomplish.

I was very impressed on how he is trying to teach his students that there is no "rugged individualism" he is teaching them that "we need you, we need each other". This attitude is what needs to be instilled into everybody, not just the rugged urban youth. The "me" attitude is what has been destroying the world, we need to work to help each other or we all pay the consequences

After watching his video http://youtu.be/2CwS60ykM8s
these questions came up, please answer the following.

1. What do you think the concrete layers are, what do you think he meant by changing them?

2. Do you know any Roses that have grown up on the concrete and have stayed there and make a garden? If they have left what do you think has attracted them away?

3. What connection is any do you see in his speech in regards to Maslow's Hierchy of Needs and the book Into the Wild or The Last Hours of Ancient of Ancient Sunlight?