Sometimes I wish I didn't have an editor, because then I could just title this post, "Rep. Maxine Waters Tells The Chauvin Judge To F*ck Right The Hell Off." But hey, I guess that's not all that happened in this segment, so it's probably a good thing I have an editor.
Rep. Maxine Waters, perpetual target of racists/GOP/honestly-what's-the-diff-anymore spoke to Joy Reid in the aftermath of the supremely satisfying and somber vision of Derek Chauvin being led away in handcuffs. After detailing her decades-long history of living through racism and fighting oppression from the trenches, Rep. Waters opined on the guilty verdict for the man who murdered George Floyd.
"So today is very special. Something very special has happened, but when I talk about why it is so important for us to have diversity and inclusion, it is because of Keith Ellison, who is the district attorney, to the degree that we get more people in these positions of power, particularly in the criminal system, we're going to be able to get more justice," she explained. This is why we need diversity. More than just white men in power, and in the rooms where decisions get made.
She continued, "And I'm looking forward to elected officials using their influence and their power, and for our city council people who have the budgets of these police, who have been intimidated by these police unions, seeing that it is possible to do right, do what is right." Rep. Waters encouraged local politicians not to be afraid or intimidated by the police unions, whose budget, salaries, overtime pay, and benefits they control. Use that to enact real change.
Rep. Waters acknowledged the fact that not all politicians feel as secure as she does, based on their districts, whether they've faced racism there, and the level of conversation they're able to have. "I'm so sorry it causes pain often times with my colleagues." She gave them props, though, for standing with her against their racist colleagues who tried, unsuccessfully, to censure her in Congress today. "They stood with me today." Not one Democrat voted for censure.
Then, though, she rubbed those racist hypocrites' noses in it, saying, "They raise money on my back, 'That's that Maxine Waters, that Black woman who is so uppity, who is someone we can't control.' And, 'You have got to make sure I have enough money to keep her from getting reelected!' And I keep getting reelected, and these poor people, many of them retirees, they keep giving them their money. They don't seem to understand they're not going to get me out of office. I'm here until I decide to retire." It's all about the grift, and they'll do it to their own constituents just as soon as they'll do it to someone else's.
Reid called them out, too, saying they love to target Rep. Waters, but for some reason they can't talk about a law about justice in policing. "There is an actual piece of legislation that is moving through the Congress that could actually take the victory for the family of George Floyd today, and put laws on the books that could actually help to prevent the next George Floyd from dying in the way that he did." Reid asked if this guilty verdict might give that act some momentum, despite the fact that the GOP aren't exactly "eager to be part of that conversation."
Rep. Waters agreed it wouldn't be easy, but that's why we need activists, young and old. "I'm just pleased that I feel still strong enough and able enough to go out with the young people to say Auntie Maxine is here, and I support you, and I want you to be activists...That is why I say to the young people, you have to keep your activism up." Knowing that elected officials rarely take initiative on things that might make waves, like police reform, she considers activism essential.
Likening it to the Civil Rights movement, she recalled Martin Luther King, Jr. "He had a project called 'Project C,' and you know what that was for? 'Project Confrontation,' and a lot of people see that as being bad, and tried to turn my words into something violent. It's not about violence. Martin Luther King was about nonviolence. I am nonviolent."
Class is in session whenever Rep. Waters visits.
"When they take words like confrontation, which, certainly confrontation was used in the sit-ins for the civil rights legislation, the marches, the prayers, all of that is confrontation. So we have got to make sure that we continue to define who we are, what we do, what we care about, and not be so intimidated we're afraid to move," she cautioned. Don't let them put words in your mouth, or meaning into your words that isn't there.
She continued with her call to activists, but this time the elders: "The young people want to see their elders stand up. They want to feel loved and protected and they're out there now, and they have joined in with Black Lives Matter and other organizations. They're telling us, 'We're here to help get justice for all of us. We have no future unless you are on this case, unless you are dealing with the injustices that have taken place, that we are confronted with.'"
She ended, though, by sticking the proverbial finger in the eye of the Chauvin trial judge. "I'm so pleased about this verdict today. No matter the criticism that I get, no matter the judge who even went off, you know, about Maxine Waters, that's all right by me. I will continue to do what I think is in the best interest of our people. I will continue to speak truth to power, and I will continue to be an activist legislator."
See? Did she tell him to stick his gavel up his own a$$? Or am I putting words in her mouth? You decide.
