Women of color are front and center in the anti-Trump resistance

ThinkProgress

Before interim Attorney General Sally Yates was promptly dismissed Monday night, she received national applause for refusing to enforce President Donald Trump’s Muslim ban. “At present, I am not convinced that the defense of the executive order is consistent with these responsibilities, nor am I convinced that the executive order is lawful,” she wrote to her Department of Justice colleagues on Monday.

It’s hard to say whether or not Yates knew she’d be dumped for her defiance, but her bold action showcased a trend that’s becoming more evident by the day: women are leading the resistance against Trump.

What’s even more striking is that women of color are front and center in the opposition movement. As the fight against the 45th President enters its second week, here are some of those women:

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)

Waters neither supported Trump during his campaign — she called him a “liar and a trickster” last September — nor kept her criticism to herself after his election.

During an MSNBC interview in December, she said she had “no intention in pretending everything is alright” and would “fight him every inch of the way” as a member of the Financial Services Committee. She said she wouldn’t go to the White House if Trump called, and vowed to “show the American people that they too cannot trust him.”

Waters was one of several Congressional leaders who refused to attend Trump’s inauguration.

In her capacity as a sitting member of the Congressional Black Caucus, she promised to fight Trump’s attorney general nominee, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), because of his racist track record. And on Tuesday, Waters also announced a bill to demand that Trump be investigated for his dealings with Russia. [MORE]