Maxine Moore Waters, was born August 15, 1938 in St. Louis, Missouri. A Democrat representing South Los Angeles, she earned her BA in Sociology from California State University, Los Angeles. Maxine Waters worked for Los Angeles City Councilman David Cunningham before her election to the California State Assembly in 1976. She was the leading voice in the political campaign and legislative effort to divest from apartheid in South Africa. During her Assembly tenure, Maxine Waters chaired the Assembly Democratic Caucus and was a member of the powerful Ways and Means Committee. Maxine Waters’ legislative agenda focused on civil rights, justice and equal rights and opportunities for women. After seven terms in the Assembly, Waters was elected to Congress in 1990. Over the course of a nearly forty-year career in politics, the Honorable Maxine Waters remains one of the most important African American figures in California and national politics.