Congresswoman Maxine Waters to speak in Cleveland in May 2017 at the Cuyahoga County Democratic Women's Caucus brunch with comments herein from CDWC chair Cindy Demsey and Women's March Ohio state director Rhiannon Childs, coupled with a chronology on the beloved and controversial Waters of California, the longest serving Black woman in congress....Waters gained national attention in 1992 relative to the Rodney King verdict and the affiliated LA Riots, and she was recently victimized by ousted FOX News commentator Bill O'Reilly as simply wearing a James Brown wig, though Waters' longtime tenure as a federal lawmaker reveals her commitment to Civil Rights and women's rights, and to disenfranchised groups in general....By editor Kathy Wray Coleman of www.clevelandurbannews.com and www.kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's Black digital news leaders
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| Democratic California Congresswoman Maxine Waters (second from left) in her younger years poses with powerful Black women at the first inauguration of former Democratic president Bill Clinton in Washington D.C. in 1993. From left: Famed singer Dionne Warwick, Congresswoman Waters, former Spelman College president Dr. Johnnetta Betsch Cole, poet, actress and Civil Rights activist Dr. Maya Angelou, distinguished actress Cicely Tyson, and former U.S. secretary of labor Alexis Herman. |
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| California Congresswoman Maxine Waters, a Los Angeles Democrat and the longest serving Black woman in congress who will keynote the brunch of the Cuyahoga County Democratic Women's Caucus at 11a.m. on Saturday, May 6, 2017 in Cleveland, Ohio. |
ClevelandUrbanNews.Com and the KathyWrayColemanOnlineNewsBlog.Com
CLEVELAND URBANNEWS.COM-CLEVELAND, Ohio- U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, a President Donald Trump critic and a Los Angeles Democrat who is also the longest serving of 12 Black women currently in congress, will keynote the brunch of the Cuyahoga County Democratic Women's Caucus (CDWD), which will be held on Saturday, May 6 at 11 a.m. at the Cleveland Botanical Garden. (Editor's note: Cuyahoga County includes the majority Black city of Cleveland and is Ohio's second largest county. It is a Democratic stronghold and is roughly 29 percent Black).
The theme of the timely women's event is "the future is female."
Waters has recently made headlines in calling for Trump to be impeached if evidence reveals malfeasance as to Russian email hacking during the 2016 presidential election, and she is a victim of recently ousted Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly, who dismissed Waters as simply wearing a 'James Brown wig,' a comment that Black leaders and women's advocates found as offensive, disrespectful, racist, and sexist. (Editor's note: Following a long tenure as a Fox News commentator O'Reilly resigned earlier this month following fallout associated with multi-million dollar sexual harassment lawsuit settlements on his behalf at the conservative television news station).
In response to the O'Reilly comment, which former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton publicly denounced, Waters said "let me just say I am a strong Black woman and I cannot be intimidated."
The upcoming brunch in Cleveland is sold out and will also include as a speaker Columbus Councilwoman Elizabeth Brown.
CDWC Chair Cindy Demsey, also a greater Cleveland attorney, told Cleveland Urban News.Com that her women's group welcomes Waters, a politician par excellence'.
"We are proud and excited to feature Congresswoman Waters," said Demsey. "She has been an outspoken critic for women, children, and those that do not have a voice."
Rhiannon Childs, 38 and the state director of Women's March Ohio, the state affiliate of the National Women's March movement, said she will be traveling from Columbus for the brunch and that she is in awe of Waters.
"I just love Congresswoman Waters so much for what she does for women and America," said Childs, who is Black. "I like what she stands for, and she speaks the truth."
Demsey said that other political notables who will attend include Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, a Toledo Democrat whose 9th congressional district extends to Cleveland, Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish, and Democratic candidates for office who will be given 30 seconds each to make political pitches, though it will be women only, she said. (Editor's note: Eleventh Congressional District Congresswoman Marcia L. Fudge, whose largely Black congressional district includes Cleveland, will not be in attendance due to a prior engagement, Demsey said)
If controversy carries a name, Waters, 78, wears it well, and she is loved and respected, particularly in the Black community, and as an outspoken federal lawmaker in congress since 1993.
The congresswoman, a member and former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, gained national attention in 1992, two years afetr she was first elected to congress, and when south central Los Angeles erupted in riots following the Rodney King verdict that brought acquittals to a band of White cops that brutally beat the unarmed Black motorist.
Waters described the LA Riots, which claimed 58 lives, as rebellion and said then that "If you call it a riot it sounds like it was just a bunch of crazy people who went out and did bad things for no reason. I maintain it was somewhat understandable, if not acceptable."
Waters was also a supporter of Fidel Castro, a Cuban revolutionary and politician who governed the Republic of Cuba as Prime Minister from 1959 to 1976 and then as President from 1976 to 2008. And she has a history of opposing the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba.
The congresswoman, who now represents California's 43rd congressional district, once said that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was partly responsible for supplying crack cocaine to the Black community.
But Waters has also supported public policy measures beneficial to Blacks, women, the elderly, the LGBT community and other disenfranchised groups, including the Affordable Care Act, Planned-Parenthood, abortion rights, and Civil Rights.
She supported former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, both Democrats, and she campaigned for Hillary Clinton's unsuccessful bid for president last year.
Waters is married to former NFL linebacker Sid Williams, her second husband and a diplomat and former U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas who played on various NFL teams during his five years in the NFL, including for the Cleveland Browns from1964-1966.
ClevelandUrbanNews.Com and the KathyWrayColemanOnlineNewsBlog.Com, Ohio's most read digital Black newspapers with some 4 million readers on Google Plus alone. And the ClevelandUrbanNews.Com website stats reveal some 26 million hits since 2012. Tel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. Kathy Wray Coleman, editor-in-chief, and who trained for 17 years at the Call and Post Newspaper in Cleveland, Ohio. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview, CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS.
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