Waters Addresses CSUN Black Leadership Group

U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters said a thing or two Friday about what it means to be a leader in her keynote address to the Young Black Leadership Conference at Cal State Northridge.

Waters, a Los Angeles Democrat, touched on AIDS, drugs, computer literacy, hip-hop music and grandparents-as-caregivers in her speech. She emphasized her commitment to keep abreast of the concerns of youth.

“I’m delighted to be here, growing old, but--at least--still in touch. And when I’m not, please let me know,” she said.

“She’s in tune with us,” said junior Frank Henry, 21. “The older generation doesn’t really understand the younger generation, and for her to come out like that really grabbed the audience.”

Gerald Walls, a freshman from Compton, said he especially liked Waters’ proposal that all schools be wired for computers.

“Everybody benefits from that. Blacks, Latinos, everybody.”

Elementary- and junior-high-age students from Calvary Baptist Day School in Pacoima also joined the college crowd.

Waters illustrated the joy and pain of a leadership role using her position as head of the House Judiciary Committee in the recent impeachment hearings as an example of standing up for principles.

“You are not a leader if you wait to see what everybody else is going to do, you’re a follower,” she said. “It’s all right to be a follower, but don’t make the mistake of thinking you’re a leader.”

Waters downplayed how much power she wields with the following tidbit:

She arrived at her Los Angeles home at midnight Thursday and discovered she had a burst water heater.

“No matter how much power you may think I have on the Judiciary Committee, it has nothing to do with getting hot water when the hot water heater breaks,” she said.

The event was sponsored by CSUN’s Pan African Studies department.