Biography on Condoleezza Rice
Description of Early Life
Dr. Condoleezza Rice was born November 14, 1954, in Birmingham, Alabama, and is an only child. Condoleezza means in Italian “with sweetness”. Dr Rice is also known by her nickname “Condi”. Dr Rice’s parent’s names are Angelena Rice and Reverend John Wesley Rice. Condaleezza’s father was a minister at Westminster Presbyterian Church, and her mom was a music teacher.
Before Dr. Rice was school age her mother, Angelena, gave Condi piano lessons and a full schedule of learning in different subjects. She learned how to read fluently at age five. Condi took less interest with her friends, instead she learned French, and piano with her mother. Condi’s father John taught her the game of football, which she still takes an interest in today. As an African American child in Birmingham she had been discrimintaed against because of her skin color. When Condi was little her mom took her to buy a dress in a store. Condi picked out the dress, and she walked with her mom to the dressing room. A white sales lady came and said to Condi and her mom your changing room is over there. She pointed to the storage room. Angelena ,Condi’s mom ,demanded that she would not have her daughter change there nor would she buy the dress from the store. The sales person let Condi try it on in the changing room. The sales person was gaurding the door so no one would see Condi and her mom.
Another racial incident that happened to Condi took place in her hometown. In 1963,Condi was standing in her dad’s church when she felt the floor shake. A Ku Klux Klan bomb went off at a nearby Baptist Church killing four young black girls. One of them was Condi’s classmate Denise McNair.
Condi graduated from St. Mary Academy High School with a 4.0. She started college at the University of Denver at age 15. At 19, Condi earned her B.A. in political science from the University of Denver. In 1975, Condi recieved her Master's Degree from the University of Notre Dame. In 1981, she was 26, and she received her Ph.D. from the Graduate School of International Studies at the University of Denver.
Challenges
Condaleezza Rice has had many challenges in her life. The most important challenge that she overcame was the color of her skin. Condi grew up in the 1950’s South...