[.ca] Condi: The Condoleezza Rice Story (ISBN 1557046751)

about a lifelong fight against oppression ...:
Alike a "TERMINATRIX" Condoleezza "Condi" Rice seems to manage her jobs, being the most martial of all war princesses, always controled and perfectly looking, coolly and compromiseless heading for preventive wars..." - Antonia Felix tries to explain the character and the life-lines from roots (from house-slaves to "evangelists of education", Condi's favorite gospel: "I need Thee every day" ) up to the present (in the year 2002: President Bush's national security advisor), describing the most prominent woman in global policy today. Superbrain or "puppet on a string" \oof the Bush-Clan\c or a further example of "sex sells"? Condi "surprises and offends some who assume that talented black women must all be political liberals. Rice isn't, and she has good reasons..." one reviewer wrote: Indeed, born in segregated Birmingham, Rice maybe is suffering under a sort of "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder", cannot forget the experience of the force against black ones in her childhood \o1963, when white rassists placed a bomb in a black church\c, and therefore she strives particularly strongly for a "reversal of a faint experience": very bad conditions for the current interest members of the "Axe Of Evil" - Iraq, Iran, North Korea - isn't it? Condoleezza (versus the meaning of her name "con dolcezza" - play "with sweetness") usually isn't prim at all: to spy out (by hidden phone-hearing) the UN coworkers: that she describes with constant smile in her face only as a "dirty trick"; building up hectic reasons for a war against Saddam Hussein: don't mention it; counterarguments don't make her stumble. Antonia Felix, looking back in Condi's lifeline, writes in a thrilling manner about the racial discrimination in the USA, about the university career of Condoleezaa \oaged 26 professor at the Stanford University\c, about her ascent to the personal coach of the white-house-chief - so that every reader of this book, beside a necessary frowning, is able to reconstruct sections of the motives of Rices political acting. So this book is very suitable to check up one of the most important wire-pullers in the enduring clash of civilizations, a story about that way, a female black person has chosen, to fight effectively against oppression ...

Will the Real Sistuh Please Stand Up?:
Condi: The Condoleezza Rice Story by biographer Antonia Felix paints a picture of a life divine. This is the story of how a little black girl from the segregated south rose to prominence to become one of the most powerful women in political history. A woman whose impact may affect America forever. Hers however is not a story of a poor little girl scuffling from the ravages of poverty to a top level Presidential appointment. Not a rags to riches story here. No, Rice was raised in the comfort of the educated middle class, a privileged daughter of the south, the quintessential BAP, (Black American Princess). Born to a third generation college-educated family in Birmingham, Alabama, Rice knew well the family history of her paternal grandfather's journey from sharecropper to college graduate and she knew the legacy she inherited was not to be taken lightly. Both the Rices and The Rays (maternal line) were proud, educated folk. Her mother, Angelena Ray Rice, was an accomplished musician and school teacher when she met John Rice, a young Presbyterian minister. By the time Rice was three years old she was learning French and the piano. Though she was in the midst of the most heated time of the civil rights movement-- her hometown was known as Bombingham--, the coping methods of the black middle class was one that shielded their children from the insanity and horrors of Jim Crow. Rice's parents' response to her concerns about segregated facilities was that it was not her problem. When the amusement park opened one day of the year for blacks, they did not patronize it. Summers were spent at college campuses where her parents took graduate courses, one being the University of Denver. They eventually moved there when John took a position as professor and administrator. Rice excelled in music and ice skating though she was informed that she did not have the aptitude for college. Of course her parents dismissed the notion and Rice proved them wrong by excelling in her studies at private schools. After entering the University of Denver at age fifteen, where she challenged a professor on the intelligence of blacks, Rice realized that while she was a good pianist, she was not great and therefore shifted her interests elsewhere. She took a class in Russian Studies and there she found her passion. She went on for advanced degrees and eventually ended up at Stanford University as a professor and then a provost. It was there she came to the attention of President George Bush. But it is under the present President George W. Bush's regime that she has flourished and received world wide attention as the National Security Advisor. The book, in tedious detail, chronicles Rice's academic and political career, however, nothing was really revealed that could have been culled from articles and other media outlets. This reviewer anticipated reading this book to get a real picture of the Condoleezza Rice that the public is not privy to and have my knowledge expanded about this hard-to-read woman. I wanted to get into the head of this woman with the plastered smile and perfect demeanor. I wanted to know the real woman. But maybe the façade is just what it is. Dera Williams APOOO BookClub

Shows us the career superwoman but not the person:
Condoleezza Rice was the object of intense curiousity earlier this year during the controversial 9/11 hearings. Although she revealed nothing except the standard public relations talking points, Rice maintained her poise in the onslaught of intense scrutiny. So it's no wonder the Bush administration has increasingly leaned on her to argue their position about the war in Iraq. Antonia Felix's biography of Rice reads like an elongated resume of her subject and not much more. It's very much a public relations work as she dutifully cites Rice's accomplishments. However, anyone who has paid scant attention to Rice has heard it all before. Sure we learn of Rice's childhood in Birmingham during the height of the civil rights struggle, her love of football and classical music but we get no sense of what really makes her tick. Is she an icy, cold blooded schoolmarm as many have suggested or is there in fact a personality behind the image she presents? Does she wholeheartedly believe in the policies she argues for on behalf of her employer or does she entertain any doubts? Rice is obviously an intelligent woman and I strongly suspect she's a more complex individual than her press, good or bad, lets us believe. I'm sure many would love to know how she reconciles her personal views and beliefs as a preacher's daughter and African American with some of the stands and policies of the people and institutions she has served as a spokesperson for. Read this book if you want a recitation of Rice's career accomplishments but if you're looking for more you'll have to wait for another biography.

Chevron named a tanker after me, beeyatch!:
Direct quote from Bush intelligence official, 2004 interview: Contrast December '99 with June and July and August 2001. In December '99 we get similar kinds of evidence that al-Qaida was planning a similar kind of attack. President Clinton asks the national security advisor to hold daily meetings with attorney-general, the CIA, FBI. They go back to their departments from the White House and shake the departments out to the field offices to find out everything they can find. It becomes the number one priority of those agencies. When the head of the FBI and CIA have to go to the White House every day, things happen and by the way, we prevented the attack. Contrast that with June, July, August 2001 when the president is being briefed virtually every day in his morning intelligence briefing that something is about to happen, and he never chairs a meeting and he never asks Condi Rice to chair a meeting about what we're doing about stopping the attacks. She didn't hold one meeting during all those three months.

A dynamic individual:
Condoleezza Rice, in what amounts to a relatively short amount of time spent in public service, has seen her political stock literally catapult of late. From being a child piano prodigy to entering the University of Denver at age 15, to becoming the youngest Provost ever at Stanford, to becoming the first female National Security Advisor ever, Condi has not only met, but conquered all incoming challenges. Through the adversity of war and liberal critics, she has maintained her customary charm, intelligence, mental fortitude, and the ability to hold her own with anyone. This book provides a brief, yet somewhat lacking, look into the maturation of Condoleezza Rice from a piano prodigy to that of a Russian virtuoso and superb foreign relations advisor. From a young age, her parents instilled in her values that she not only talks about, but lives by, in her life today; such values as self responsibility, equality and freedom for all, unwavering adherence to one's moral principles of right and wrong, a strong faith in God, and of course, a tireless work ethic that is to be lauded, if not emulated, by all. Dr. Rice is, without question, the most powerful woman in America. She has been intrumental in the unification of Germany under Bush 41, has been indispensable in her meetings with Vladimir Putin, has been resolute and positive during times of adversity, and has maintained her belief in the ideals and principles on which America was founded. With her background and abilities, she no doubt has a bright future - possibly as Secretary of State, VP, Senator, or maybe even President. This book, despite its quasi-adequate background of Dr. Rice, provides little of her exploits as NSA. Overall, a good and insightful read about a fascinating individual - albeit without much substance.