Rep. Maxine Waters, who many of us affectionately call 'Auntie Maxine,' is celebrating birthday #83

[Brexiter]

I will never forget the time in 2018 when California Democratic Representative Maxine Waters said “If you shoot me, you better shoot straight,” after repeatedly receiving death threats from the Trump Klan—threats that continue in 2021. No matter the danger to herself, she continues to serve her district and the nation and will be celebrating her 83rd birthday on Sunday.

Happy birthday, Auntie Maxine!

A little background for those of you who aren’t familiar with her history: She was born in St. Louis, Missouri, as Maxine Carr on Aug. 15, 1938, where she was the fifth of 13 children reared by a single mom. She started working at age 13 in factory jobs and in restaurants. When she moved to Los Angeles, she worked in a garment factory and then got a job at a telephone company. She attended California State University at Los Angeles, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology. She ran for state office in 1976 and was elected to the California State Assembly, where she served until 1990.

This year is also her 30th year in Congress. In 1991, after being elected to the House for the first time, she became one of the founders of the Congressional Progressive Caucus along with Ron Dellums, Lane Evans, Thomas Andrews, Peter DeFazio, and Bernie Sanders. She is also the person with the longest tenure in the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), alongside nonvoting Washington, D.C. Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton.

In case you’re wondering what folks in her district think about her, the proof is in the ballot box. According to Ballotpedia, Waters has never garnered less than 71% of the vote in every general election she has run in since 1990.

I admit I had to grin when looking for some video clips about her and with her, and found this HuffPost video montage.

YouTube Video

When Auntie Maxine became the first Black person to chair the House Financial Services Committee, Blavity did this short interview with her.

YouTube Video

I learned quite a bit more about her history that I didn’t know by reading her congressional website biography. Here are some of the highlights (though I suggest you read the whole bio):

Throughout her career, Congresswoman Waters has been an advocate for international peace, justice, and human rights. Before her election to Congress, she was a leader in the movement to end Apartheid and establish democracy in South Africa. She opposed the 2004 Haitian coup d’etat, which overthrew the democratically-elected government of Jean-Bertrand Aristide in Haiti, and defends the rights of political prisoners in Haiti’s prisons. She leads congressional efforts to cancel the debts that poor countries in Africa and Latin America owe to wealthy institutions like the World Bank and free poor countries from the burden of international debts.

Congresswoman Waters is the founding member and former Chair of the ‘Out of Iraq’ Congressional Caucus. Formed in June 2005, the ‘Out of Iraq’ Congressional Caucus was established to bring to the Congress an on-going debate about the war in Iraq and the Administration’s justifications for the decision to go to war, to urge the return of US service members to their families as soon as possible.

Expanding access to health care services is another of Congresswoman Waters’ priorities. She spearheaded the development of the Minority AIDS Initiative in 1998 to address the alarming spread of HIV/AIDS among African Americans, Hispanics and other minorities. Under her continuing leadership, funding for the Minority AIDS Initiative has increased from the initial appropriation of $156 million in fiscal year 1999 to approximately $400 million per year today. She is also the author of legislation to expand health services for patients with diabetes, cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.

Most recently, Waters has been a fierce advocate in the House fighting for an extension of the eviction moratorium, which is critical during this pandemic.

#RELEASE Rep. Waters Statement on CDC Decision to Extend Eviction Moratorium@RepMaxineWaters #EvictionMoratorium | https://t.co/nx6TJxeHFP pic.twitter.com/8y0id7hsi8

— U.S. House Committee on Financial Services (@FSCDems) August 3, 2021

Fighting to insist states & cities do a much better job with the $46.6 BILLION we sent to them for rental assistance. Repeating my tweet from July 31, I’m going to fight until my last breath to protect the renters & the landlords - the small landlords in particular!

— Maxine Waters (@RepMaxineWaters) August 6, 2021

This is an EMERGENCY The #EvictionMoratorium ENDS TOMORROW Chairwoman @RepMaxineWaters testifies before @RulesDemocrats on her bill #HR4791, which would keep hundreds of thousands of ppl off the streets by extending the eviction moratorium until the end of Dec. pic.twitter.com/SzqjpXlnMQ

— U.S. House Committee on Financial Services (@FSCDems) July 30, 2021

Auntie Maxine is a shero, and a powerful example for many of us—young and old. Join me Sunday in wishing her the happiest of birthdays.

We love you, auntie.