About book Condi: The Condoleezza Rice Story (2005)
One of the most moving books I've read this year. If you're looking for someone to add to your I-love-these-people-list, this book might be for you. I was not expecting such an emotive story! I think most people think of Condoleezza Rice as someone more on the tough side... but quite the opposite, she's a sweet-heart! And her story is not only heart-rending poignant but truly inspiring.By the age of three she already had began to learn French, music, figure skating and ballet! By fifteen, she began piano classes which she still does. She even had accompanied cellist Yo-Yo Ma playing Johannes Brahms' Violin Sonata in D Minor at Constitution Hall in April 2002 for the National Medal of Arts Awards, and she's also fluent in Russian, and in general, an all-round remarkable academic background.She does not hide her achievements, but at the same time does not overestimate herself. “I think I’m above average,” she said, “but not much more. When you’ve been a professor and provost at Stanford, you know what real genius is. I’ve seen genius, and I’m not it.”But the sad side of the story and what I found the most distressful, is her childhood and how hard it was for a black woman to grow up in a white predominant society. She grew up in Birmingham, Alabama in 1954 at a time where racism was still significantly prevalent, disgusting and infuriating as per normal... It's actually quite hard to calm down to such amounts of bullshit while reading some of these stories.Alabama was particularly detailed in its Black Codes, the state and city statutes that defined segregation in the Jim Crow era. (The term Jim Crow was derived from a character in blackface minstrel shows; a character originated by a white actor named, ironically, Thomas “Daddy” Rice.) Jim Crow was not only a system of legal statutes but a way of life that encompassed an unwritten standard of behavior between blacks and whites. These standards were based on a belief that blacks were intellectually and culturally inferior to whites, a conviction that pervaded Southern society and was preached from church pulpits to university classrooms. Jim Crow included a host of social taboos: a black man could not offer his hand to shake hands with a white man; he could not offer his hand to a white woman or he risked being accused of rape; if whites and blacks ate together, the whites would be served first; black couples could not kiss or show affection for each other in public; white drivers always had the right-of-way at intersections; whites did not address blacks with the titles Mr., Mrs., or Miss, but called them by their first names—conversely, blacks had to use such courtesy names when speaking to whites; a black person always rode in the back seat of a car driven by a white person (or in the back of a truck); and so on. These were the social norms. The Black Codes translated these norms into law, and Southern cities such as Birmingham were dottedwith signs in all types of public places, from restaurants to train stations, that pointed out separate facilities for blacks and whites.By 1914, every Southern state had passed Black Codes. Those specific to Alabama included:• Nurses: No person or corporation shall require any white female nurse to nurse in wards or rooms in hospitals, either public or private, in which Negro men are placed.• Buses: All passenger stations in this state operated by any motor transportation company shall have separate waiting rooms or space and separate ticket windows for white and colored races.• Railroads: The conductor of each passenger train is authorized and required to assign each passenger to the car or the division of the car, when it is divided by a partition, designated for the race to which such passenger belongs.• Restaurants: It shall be unlawful to conduct a restaurant or other place for the serving of food in the city, at which white and colored people are served in the same room, unless such white and colored persons are effectively separated by a solid partition extending from the entrance from the street is provided for each compartment.• Pool and Billiard Rooms: It shall be unlawful for a Negro and white person to play together or in company with each other at any game of pool or billiards.• Toilet Facilities, Male: Every employer of white or Negro males shall provide for such white or Negro males reasonably accessible and separate toilet facilities.Yet, Condoleezza's family tried to protected her as much as they could.Condi’s grandfather and grandmother Ray insulated their children as much as possible from these aspects of society. They forbade their children, for instance, from working as hired help in white homes to supplement the family income. Cooking and cleaning for white families was routine for other black Birmingham children in the 1930s and 1940s, but not for the Rays. Condi and her cousins grew up hearing grandfather Ray’s watchwords, his guiding principle for them all: “Always remember you’re a Ray!”Enforcing an strict education.“Our grandfathers had this indomitable outlook. It went: Racism is the way of the world, but it’s got nothing to do with your mission, which is to be the best damned whatever-you’re-going-to-be in the world. Life was a regimen: Read a book a day. Religion, religion, religion.”And, most importantly, a healthy pride and loving family!With the birth of Condi, John and Angelena funneled all the family support, strength, pride, faith in God, and sense of responsibility that had shaped their lives into their child. “They wanted the world,” said Connie Rice. “They wanted Rice to be free of any kind of shackles, mentally or physically, and they wanted her to own the world. And to give a child that kind of entitlement, you have to love her to death and make her believe that she can fly.”Countless stories of discrimination:Back in 1949, his efforts on behalf of a black family who wanted to move into a traditionally white neighborhood resulted in bombs being placed in his office and his home.He found them before they were ignited, but when he brought them to the police and the FBI, neither organization helped him. The bombings of his home in 1963 were more of the same. Shores and others knew that going to the police didn’t help because the police department itself played a role in the bombings. “The police would show up and tell everybody to get off the streets,” said Birmingham historian Pam King. “They’d clear the streets and the Klan would come through and throw the bombs. They weren’t looking out for the safety of the citizens, they were just trying to clear the way for the Klu Klux Klan to come through and bomb.” When a firebomb landed in the Rices’ neighborhood—a dud that didn’t go off—John Rice took it to the police and requested an investigation, but they would not conduct an inquiry.But this one really got to me... I just can't imagine the amount of ignorant and unearned privilege she had to tolerate, the loads of idiocy on top of the ignorant bliss of so many shitheads... ugh!Shockley [William Shockley’s theory of dysgenics] believed that art, literature, technology, linguistics—all the treasures of Western civilization—are products of the superior white intellect. What went through Condi’s mind as the professor described and appeared to support Shockley’s view of blacks as “genetically disadvantaged”? Rather than crouch down in her seat to avoid the onslaught, she sprang out of her chair and defended herself. “I’m the one who speaks French!” she said to the professor. “I’m the one who plays Beethoven. I’m better at your culture than you are. This can be taught!” Not only was fifteen-year-old Condoleezza Rice living proof that radical social theorists like Shockley were wrong, she had the self-assurance to say so in front of hundreds of white students and her professor.I just want to finish with this quote, mostly because I think it reflects on the importance of a person's surroundings as to how character gets built."My parents had me absolutely convinced that . . . you may not be able to have a hamburger at Woolworth’s but you can be president of the United States.” -- Condoleezza Rice
Born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1954, as a black child Condoleezza Rice witnessed discrimination first hand. Through guidance her well educated parents provided her with a solid foundation full of religion, education and overall confidence as a path forward. Beginning at an early age the multi-talented and gifted Rice was consumed with determination, hard work and regimented practice to perfect her skills. Her core beliefs and basic grounded principles were simple. While most intellects in the field of education were aligned with the Democratic Party, Dr. Rice comfortably followed a different path becoming a member of the Republican Party noting:“I really am a small government person. I don’t think every solution is in Washington”. Dr. Rice known as a world-renowned security intellect, served as America’s leading national security advisor under President George W. Bush during 9/11/2001. She remains a highly accomplished pianist, figure skater, respected football analyst, successful educator as provost of Stanford University and senior member of the Hoover Institution, Russian language and history expert, savvy businesswoman, and one that gives back to society through community volunteer service. By walking the walk, she has garnered respect as a mentor and role model to many. This book was published prior to Dr. Rice becoming the 66th Secretary of State and because she has not yet turned 60 years of age her career and accomplishments continue on.
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Condi's parents played a great roll in developing her remarkable confidence and academic abilities. She was one of those self driven students. Since she was a small child she has had a sense of self worth that comes out of a certain kind of experience. Her father motivated her with the idea that regardless of what life held during her child-hood, there were very important things like education that enabled her to do what she wanted and be a success in whatever she wanted to go into.Condi is truly a roll model for all American women, and her parents are a great example to the parents today at what your child can achieve if only you have confidence, determination, and faith!I loved the book...
—Grace
This is an easy and a remarkable read. I knew she was accomplished but had no idea to the extent that the list is awe-inspiring. The only knock I have on the book is that some (a minor number) of the author's additions are unnecessarily silly and fluffy and detract from the overall content of the book. In the opening of one chapter, she writes something like "Once upon a time a beautiful princess was turned into a frog...." and it goes on for a few paragraphs trying to make, what turns out to be a very lightweight point. Things like that don't add to the heft of the book. All in all, though a very informative and interesting book.
—Diane
The biography covers the life of Condoleezza Rice from birth to her role as the first woman National Security Advisor. The story is well written and well researched and mostly covers the basic facts of her life.Condi’s father, John Rice was a Presbyterian minister and academic, her mother was a pianist and teacher. She was born in segregated Birmingham Alabama in 1954. Felix explores Condi’s passions from football to music, weight training to Russia. The author covers Condi’s role as the first black woman and youngest person to become Provost of Stanford University. I found the fact that when Rice was a student of international affairs and Russian language at the University of Denver her mentor was professor Josef Korbell, the father of the first woman Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright most interesting.The author in her research of the book included interviews with family, friends and colleagues of Rice but the major downside of the book in my opinion was that Felix did not interview Rice. What the book did was provided me with the desire to learn more about Condoleezza Rice. The author narrated her own book.
—Jean Poulos
