08/04/2026
🌱Proud Plant Parent
This is the tallest plant in my horticultural family. As you can see, he has a few bends, twists, and a rough, bare base. That’s exactly why I named him Malik; after the great Malik Shabazz (Malcolm X).
By every account, Brother Malcolm stood tall in both stature and spirit. He taught us to love ourselves in a world determined to convince us we were unworthy. He reminded us that dignity is not something granted by others, it is something we already possess.
Like his namesake, this plant didn’t begin polished or perfect. Its foundation is scarred, its trunk bears the marks of struggle, and its path upward has never been straight. Yet despite every bend, it kept reaching toward the light.
That’s what I see when I look at Malik. Not perfection, perseverance. Not an easy beginning, but a beautiful becoming.
Brother Malcolm’s life was marked by hardship before it was remembered for greatness. Yet he transformed pain into purpose, conviction into courage, and struggle into strength. This plant reminds me that beauty is not found in an unbroken life, it is found in the determination to keep growing.
Some things don’t become beautiful because they never struggled. They become beautiful because they refused to stop growing.
