Condoleezza Rice has excelled as a diplomat, politicalscientist, and concert pianist. Her achievements run thegamut from helping to oversee the collapse of communism in Europeand the decline of the Soviet Union, to working to protect thecountry in the aftermath of 9-11, to becoming only the second woman- and the first black woman ever -- to serve as Secretary ofState.
But until she was 25 she never learned to swim.
Not because she wouldn't have loved to, but because when she wasa little girl in Birmingham, Alabama, Commissioner of Public SafetyBull Connor decided he'd rather shut down the city's pools thangive black citizens access.
Throughout the 1950's, Birmingham's black middle class largelysucceeded in insulating their children from the most corrosiveeffects of racism, providing multiple support systems to ensure thenext generation would live better than the last. But by 1963,when Rice was applying herself to her fourth grader's lessons, thesituation had grown intolerable. Birmingham was anenvironment where blacks were expected to keep their head down anddo what they were told -- or face violent consequences. That springtwo bombs exploded in Rice’s neighborhood amid a series of chillingKlu Klux Klan attacks. Months later, four young girls losttheir lives in a particularly vicious bombing.
So how was Rice able to achieve what she ultimately did?
Her father, John, a minister and educator, instilled a love ofsports and politics. Her mother, a teacher, developedCondoleezza’s passion for piano and exposed her to the finearts. From both, Rice learned the value of faith in the faceof hardship and the importance of giving back to thecommunity. Her parents’ fierce unwillingness to set limitspropelled her to the venerable halls of Stanford University, whereshe quickly rose through the ranks to become the university’ssecond-in-command. An expert in Soviet and Eastern EuropeanAffairs, she played a leading role in U.S. policy as the IronCurtain fell and the Soviet Union disintegrated. Less than adecade later, at the apex of the hotly contested 2000 presidentialelection, she received the exciting news – just shortly before herfather’s death – that she would go on to the White House as thefirst female National Security Advisor.
As comfortable describing lighthearted family moments as she isrecalling the poignancy of her mother’s cancer battle and the headychallenge of going toe-to-toe with Soviet leaders, Rice holdsnothing back in this remarkably candid telling. This is the storyof Condoleezza Rice that has never been told, not that of anultra-accomplished world leader, but of a little girl – and a youngwoman -- trying to find her place in a sometimes hostile world andof two exceptional parents, and an extended family and community,that made all the difference.
【作者简介】
CONDOLEEZZA RICE was the 66th United States Secretary of Stateand the first black woman to ever hold that office. Prior tothat, she was the first woman to serve as National SecurityAdvisor. She currently teaches at Stanford University.
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