Dr. Alexa Irene Canady

Alexa Canady was born in Lansing, Michigan, as the second of two children.

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Her mother, Elizabeth Hortense, was an educator, while her father, Clinton Canady Jr., was a dentist, providing the family with a comfortable middle-class lifestyle. While growing up just outside Lansing, Alexa and her older brother were the only Black children in their elementary school. Their mother encouraged them to ignore those who might see them as "tokens" and to make the most of the opportunities that came their way.

During the summer after second grade, Canady's grandmother visited from Tennessee, where she was a professor. While in town, Canady participated in a testing course her grandmother was taking. When Canady excelled in the initial exam, she was invited to take additional tests. Her grandmother's professor later informed her parents that Canady had performed exceptionally well and demonstrated remarkable intelligence.

This revelation surprised her parents, as Canady's school grades had been average. The discovery of her brilliance led to her skipping a grade, which significantly boosted her confidence. Years later, Canady would learn that her parents had been in communication with her school, resulting in her teacher being fired. The discrepancy between her aptitude test results and her school grades arose from her teacher switching her high grades with the average scores of a White student.