Watch: The Making of Auntie Maxine

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Some might say that Maxine Waters’ career in politics was a prophecy.

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In high school, Waters was named most likely to be the speaker of the House of Representatives. The rest is history.

Politically, she got her start in 1976 with the California Assembly. There, she led a seven-year fight for legislation that would remove state pension funds from apartheid South Africa, and she succeeded.

Fast-forward to 1990, when Waters was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

As a congresswoman, she’s known for being outspoken: standing up for human rights, voting against the Iraq War and, in 1994, being one of only 12 members of the Congressional Black Caucus to vote against President Bill Clinton’s crime bill.

Waters is now the ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee and the most senior of the 18 black women currently serving in Congress. And she is one of the most vocal critics of Donald Trump.

Here’s how Rep. Maxine Waters became “Auntie Maxine.”

Straight From The Root

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