By Condoleezza Rice (Crown Archetype, 2010)

For those of us who lived through the 1960s, an account of the events from a black viewpoint is always interesting. Condoleezza Rice was an only child of a couple who wanted their daughter to have more than they had had. They were, however, restricted

by the severe segregation of Birmingham, Alabama, one of the most segregated cities in the nation.
I’ve always wondered how the black people managed to get along and even thrive. Rice’s family did it by staying within the walls of their community, family, and church and avoiding all contact with the racist white city. If they went someplace where there were white fountains and black fountains, they didn’t get a drink until they got home. If it meant riding in the back of the bus, they walked. The life they led was restricted, but as long as they could maintain their own community, they could be happy.
Condoleezza’s parents were well-educated. Her father was a minister in the Presbyterian church and an educator and her mother was a teacher. They provided her with every opportunity within their ability and added a strong drive for perfection. Condoleezza began playing the piano at the age of three. Over the years, she mastered the piano and even dreamed of becoming a concert pianist. She was educated in the best schools Birmingham had to offer blacks. Her parents sacrificed a great deal to give her an education that was beyond the dreams of most black young people.
As time passed, Condoleezza branched out into other fields. She became an expert on Russia and spoke the Russian language (She could also read Czechoslovakian). She steadily added expertise in international relations, and eventually became an adviser to President Reagan and then Secretary of State under George W. Bush. Along the way she became second in command of Stanford University, and is currently a faculty member of the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a director of its Global Center for Business and the Economy. What an amazing career for a black girl born in 1954 in Birmingham.
Incidentally, her name was her mother’s attempt to give her a meaningful appellation, and comes from the musical term con dolcezza which means “with sweetness.” Figuring that an English speaker could never pronounce it correctly, her mother spelled it Condoleezza so there could be no doubt.
Although the book is a history of a family that triumphed over the racial injustices of the pre-1963 south, it is also a documentation of the events leading up to the fall of the Berlin Wall and puts those events into a human perspective. It’s too bad someone can’t bottle Rice’s intelligence and drive, because we need a lot more people just like her.