I don't know their individual stories (though I know that much of what Ben Carson has claimed his is is made up).

Oh, really? And how do you know this? A left wing opinion piece? Those are some great facts for you LOL!!! Calling a black man a liar: you must be a racist!

But everything I read indicates that one of the key factors in overcoming poverty is having one adult who believes in a kid and guides the kid.

And who is to blame for the lack of family values in the black community?Oh. That's right. In a very large part, it is the welfare system.

I looked. Condi Rice is the daughter of a teacher and a school counselor/minister. So she didn't start from deep poverty or come from an uneducated family. (Her Wikipedia page includes "Rice began to learn French, music, figure skating and ballet at the age of three.")

Wonderful. So how did her black ancestors lift themselves out of poverty during an era in this country when it was much harder to do so? Or did they just inherit a fortune from more distant black ancestors?

Thomas Sowell's story is more an "up from poverty" story. I note that a key factor seems to have been moving to NYC and getting into Stuyvesant HS (a public academic magnet). Military service seems to also have been important in helping him succeed. So we, the people, invested him.

I see. So his success was not due to any of his own efforts or ingenuity, was it? It was all because of the government. It sounds like Obama saying "You didn't build that". What utter nonsense.