Congresswoman Maxine Waters will serve as the keynote speaker for FAMU's 2012 Martin Luther King Jr. Convocation.Currently, Waters is a senior member of the House Committee on Financial Services, serving as the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises. She also serves on the subcommittee on Insurance, Housing and Community Opportunity, and the subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. In addition,
Waters serves on the House Committee on the Judiciary, where she sits on the Intellectual Property, Competition and the Internet Subcommittee, and the Immigration Policy and Enforcement Subcommittee. An integral member of Congressional Democratic Leadership, Waters serves as a chief deputy whip and as a member of the Steering and Policy Committee.
Waters is considered by many to be one of the most powerful women in American politics today. She has gained a reputation as a fearless and outspoken advocate for women, children, people of color and the poor. Elected in November 2010 to her 11th term in the House of Representatives with almost 80 percent of the vote in the 35th District of California, Waters represents a large part of South Central Los Angeles, the communities of Westchester and Playa Del Rey, and the diverse cities of Gardena, Hawthorne, Inglewood and Lawndale — all in California.
A native of St. Louis, Mo., Waters was the fifth of 13 children raised by a single mother. She began working at age 13 in factories and segregated restaurants. After moving to Los Angeles, she worked in garment factories and at the telephone company. She attended California State University at Los Angeles, where she earned a bachelor of arts degree.
Waters is married to Sidney Williams, the former U.S. Ambassador to the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. She is the mother of two adult children, Edward and Karen, and has two grandchildren.