The California representative is featured in “Black Barbie” for her love of Black dolls. Waters shared her backstory in the documentary, stating that she had 12 siblings and lived in poverty. “We were poor and so we were given toys at Christmastime. We had to go some place that was designated for poor people to come and get their toys,” she said. “For my sisters, I would always make sure they got a doll, and I would say ‘Oh, I don’t need one.'”
When asked if these dolls were Black, Waters responded, “There were no Black dolls. They were all white dolls.
Waters added, “We didn’t know a lot or think a lot about it at that time. But as you get a better knowledge and understanding about yourself and people of color, I began to understand how important it was to have a Black doll and to have someone who looked like me.”
She continued, “Collecting Black dolls became very important to us – to say that we liked them, we appreciated them, we could afford them, and we were gonna have them.”