Deondra Rose has always been 10 steps ahead of her peers.
She took an interest in government and politics in first grade while running for student council and says that many of her most vivid memories about growing up revolve around electoral politics—like when she lost her first election in 4th grade because she refused to vote for herself.
Rose made the cheerleading squad in high school despite her peers’ comments that “black girls don’t do cheerleading,” and she became a campaign manager for a state-wide political race before she finished high school.
Rose attended the University of Georgia and was the second black woman in the university’s history to win the Miss UGA pageant.
Host Frank Stasio talks with Deondra Rose, a 31-year-old professor of public policy at Duke, about her life both on and off stage.