Reclaiming Her Time: The Power of Maxine Waters

Journalists Andrews-Dyer (Bitch Is the New Black) and Thomas (Here for It) begin this energetic biography of California representative Maxine Waters with the incident that “launched [her] into the millennial meme stratosphere” in 2017. When she invoked standard parliamentary procedure to “reclaim her time” from witness Steve Mnuchin during a congressional hearing, Waters, the authors write, showed that she’s “a guru when it comes to expressing her full self within the rules.” The fifth of 13 children raised by a single mother in St. Louis, Mo., Waters moved with her husband and two young children to Los Angeles in 1961. She left a coveted job as a telephone operator to become a community organizer with the Head Start educational program, and in 1976 won a seat in the California State Assembly, where she fought against apartheid in South Africa and police brutality at home. Elected to Congress in 1990, she has opposed the war in Iraq, wrangled with both Bush administrations and President Trump, and, the authors note, advanced her constituents’ education, employment, and healthcare needs. The authors also examine Waters’s long second marriage and her personal style, and blend impish humor with unstinting admiration. Readers who enjoyed Notorious RBG will cheer this vibrant account of another progressive hero. (Oct.)