Extraordinary, Ordinary People

 I just finished reading Condoleezza Rice's autobiography Extraordinary, Ordinary People;  Memoir of Family. Condoleezza writes about her parents and grandparents growing up in Birmingham, Alabama where segregation existed.  The Governor, George Wallace, said "Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, and segregation forever."  To cope the black families tried to stay separate. Rather than ride in the back of buses they walked or drove cars. Rather than use public toilets for blacks only they waited until they found a better one or went home. Her parents were college graduates. Her mother taught school and her father was a preacher. Later in life he went on to be a college administrator. Condoleezza grew up playing the piano at parties and church events. Eventually the family moved to Colorado for her father's job and that is where she went to high school. She also took ice skating lessons. Eventually she figured out she was not going to make a career of ice skating nor the piano. She wasn't sure which major to choose in college until she met Josef Korbel (who happened to be the father of Madeline Albright). He influenced her to go into political science and focus on Russia. Eventually she went to graduate school at Notre Dame and Stanford. Her parents sacrificed for her education. All their savings went to their daughter. She eventually became a tenured professor at Stanford and later the Provost of Stanford. I was hoping to read about her years at the White House but the book ends just as George W. Bush was elected. I enjoyed reading her book.