Reclaiming Her Time

September 1, 2020
An homage to a political powerhouse. In a book conveyed in the same breezy tone as Brenda Jones and Krishan Trotman's Queens of the Resistance: Maxine Waters, Washington Post reporter Andrews-Dyer and Thomas, a senior staff writer at elle.com, offer an admiring biography of the prominent legislator, illustrated by Dorsainvil and including many photographs. The authors draw on abundant media coverage of Waters' life and career, her legislative record, interviews with friends and colleagues, and Thomas' interview with Waters in 2017 to recount her rise from "humble beginnings as a Head Start teacher in the projects to meetings with Nelson Mandela and Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama." The book's title comes from Waters' testy exchange with Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin, in July 2017, where she repeatedly insisted that he answer her questions, interrupting his calculated digressions by invoking the parliamentary rule of "Reclaiming my time." The much-publicized anecdote testifies to Waters' outspoken, take-no-prisoners style and refusal to be intimidated, earning her the epithet "Kerosene Maxine." One of 13 children, Waters struggled to claim her time at home and at school, working hard for recognition. Married at 18, a mother at 20, she and her husband moved to California, where she worked at the telephone company until a friend told her about an opening at Head Start. "Head Start changed my life," Waters said in an interview. "Through Head Start I discovered me." She learned how to organize parents and community volunteers, raise funds, and marshal grassroots power. Those skills served her well as she moved into more public positions, winning an election to the California State Assembly in 1976 and to the U.S. Congress in 1990. The authors report the many causes that Waters has championed, trace her rise to increasing visibility and power, and even include a gushing chapter on her fashion choices. A lively pop history of an impressive career.

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Starred review from June 1, 2020
Congresswoman Maxine Waters has always been a force to reckon with. She cut her teeth as a political organizer in Los Angeles in the 1970s, walking door-to-door, meeting those who would become her constituents one political flyer, one impromptu rally, one crisis at a time. Elected to the California state legislature in 1976, a bold move for any woman, much less a Black woman, she then won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1990. Waters has been called everything from arrogant to outspoken, a reputation earned by championing her constituents, calling out injustices, and combating the insidious insider hustle-culture of Beltway politics. Determined, dauntless, and always dazzling in her rhetoric and her presence, Waters is the epitome of a true public servant. In an approach which borders on hagiography, Andrews-Dyer and Thomas bring all the snap and pizzazz one would expect to their subject, given their journalistic careers as, respectively, the pop culture reporter for the Washington Post and a senior staff writer for Elle.com. Ultimately, however, their buoyant and zesty portrait of the woman known as Auntie Maxine is perfect for the vivacious, unconventional, tireless, and essential Waters.Women in Focus: The 19th in 2020(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)

August 3, 2020
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 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.

Starred review from September 1, 2020

Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) boasts both political longevity and a relentless capacity to continue to adapt, challenge, and inspire. Thomas (Here for It), creator of the Auntie Maxine meme, collaborates with Washington Post reporter Andrews-Dyer to capture the energy--and urgency--of Waters with an addictive, fully illustrated read brimming with quotations. The authors set out to "disrupt the cultural practice of flattening Black women" by telling the story of Waters and her life in politics with care and nuance, offering a fully realized portrait that is complex, multifarious, and personal. The narrative tells of Waters's childhood in St. Louis, MO, the fifth of 13 children, and how school became her sanctuary. It then effortlessly transitions to her first marriage and subsequent move to California, where working at Head Start led to a renewed sense of purpose. Informative time lines help readers navigate pivotal moments in her life and career, as the conversational tone moves readers through the decades, pointing out Waters's highs and lows, including her efforts on the House Financial Services Committee. VERDICT In turn both entertaining yet serious, this informal biography will especially engage political buffs but also general readers of excellent biography.--Emily Bowles, Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison

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