Condoleezza Rice: A Memoir of My Extraordinary, Ordinary Family and Me (hereafter called Rice’s Memoir) is a fascinating story about how a black girl born in Birmingham, Alabama during the oppressive Jim Crow years became one of the most powerful people in the world. It’s a truly inspirational story about how the right upbringing and personal drive can help people overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles.

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I read Rice’s Memoir as part of the 2026 Thoughtful Reading Challenge. March’s challenge was to read a biography of a woman you admire in honor of International Women’s Day. I’ve always held Condoleezza Rice in high regard, and after reading about her background, I admire her even more.

For those of you unfamiliar with Rice, here’s a quick overview of her resume: finished high school at sixteen, studied to be a concert pianist, was a competitive figure skater, proficient in five languages, earned a PhD, became Stanford’s youngest provost, served as George W. Bush’s National Security Advisor and then Secretary of State, became Director of the Hoover Institution. The woman even had a freaking oil tanker named after her!

Not bad for a woman born in the epicenter of segregation.

Rice is the only child of John and Angelena Rice. Both parents were college educated and, as Rice describes, evangelized education. Her father was a Presbyterian minister who instilled in Rice her strong Christian faith and love of sports. Her mother was a school teacher who also played the piano, and nurtured Rice’s musical talent.

Her parents doted on her and included Condoleezza in family decisions from a young age. They also had high standards and lofty expectations of her. Jim Crow was no match for this family, and it was interesting to hear about how they insulated her from the effects of deep and hateful bigotry.

Rice attributes her success to four elements of her childhood – family, community, church, and school. These groups all worked in concert to bypass the oppressive effects of segregation. For example, although the black schools were under-resourced, they overcame it by providing and emphasizing academic excellence, including putting on shows and musical performances that became a cornerstone of the community’s social life.

Rice also lived through the tumultuous times in Birmingham brought about by the nation’s focus on civil rights, including support of the Civil Rights Act. She lived in Birmingham when churches and houses were bombed (some in her own neighborhood), Martin Luther King Jr was arrested for civil disobedience, and authorities turned dogs and water cannons on kids marching for freedom. These tumultuous events helped shape who she is and what she thinks. Even if you’re not a Condoleezza Rice fan, the first part of the book is worth reading for the firsthand account of her experience with the civil rights movement.

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John Rice wanted to get into college administration and had slowly been earning his master’s degree at Denver University one summer and two classes at a time. He realized that this approach was going to take forever, and the family permanently moved to Denver in 1968 (when Rice was 14) so he could study full-time.

Rice graduated from high school early, and she and her parents thought it would be best if she went to a local college. She began school at Denver University intending to study to become a concert pianist. When she decided that dream was out of reach, she was at a loss regarding what to major in. Then she stumbled upon political science/international relations and the rest, as they say, is history. She eventually became a well-respected Soviet expert, which made her well-suited for her government assignments.

Rice also got a PhD from Denver University, with a master’s degree from Notre Dame sandwiched in between. She also had a series of fellowships and studied in Moscow to become fluent in Russian. One of the fellowships brought her to Washington, DC, where she impressed the heck out of George H. W. Bush, later working on his son’s Presidential campaign and then serving on his cabinet.

I skipped a lot of her accomplishments as an adult, but you get the gist. Condoleezza Rice is a rockstar and such a good role model and example of someone who succeeded despite actual oppression.

I like that she highlighted the emphasis her family put on education. And it wasn’t just her parents – both sides of her family have a tradition of academic focus. Her great-great-grandmother was a former slave who, despite strong odds, had learned to read.

Her father extended this emphasis to the broader community, serving as a role model and mentor to young people. He started a youth group at his church that highlighted the importance of learning. Many of the members went on to accomplish impressive things and become role models for the next generation.

The examples Rice provides in her memoir punctuate the importance of a strong community, including supportive churches and schools that hold children to high standards. This is particularly noteworthy today, when these support pillars are increasingly failing the young people they’re supposed to be nurturing and developing. The information in the memoir about these aspects of growing into a successful adult really make you think.

I recommend Condoleezza Rice: A Memoir of My Extraordinary, Ordinary Family and Me to anyone who enjoys an inspiring success story and/or wants to learn more about how the Civil Rights movement affected a black family in the deep south. Really interesting information and the writing is simple enough that older kids and teenagers should be able to engage with the content.

If you read a biography or memoir of a woman you admire, I’d love to hear about it!

**Reminder – April’s challenge is to read a collection of fairytales by Hans Christian Andersen.

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