Condoleezza Rice, one of the most influential women in the world, was born on November 14, 1954, in Birmingham, Alabama. She made history as the first African American woman to serve as the United States’ National Security Adviser and later as the first African American woman to become U.S. Secretary of State, holding the latter position from 2005 to 2009. Rice is the daughter of John Wesley Rice Jr., a football coach and high school counselor at one of Birmingham’s Black public schools, and Angelena Rice, a teacher and church organist. Her name, Condoleezza, is derived from the Italian phrase “con dolcezza,” which means “to play with sweetness.”
Rice attended St. Mary’s Academy, an all-girls Catholic high school in Cherry Hills Village, Colorado. She began playing the piano at the…
