Thank you Sen. Gary Peters and Battle Creek for showing up fired up and ready to go! It's not enough to get your vote in, reach out to your friends and family as well. Make sure they have a plan and a ride.

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After experiencing financial volatility and industry pushback, Waters shifted her focus to her faith and attended a Billy Graham Crusade in 1957. For the next two decades, she toured extensively as a featured gospel singer with Billy Graham’s crusades. Waters died on Sept. 1, 1977, at age 80. /end

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Waters made her Hollywood debut in Cabin in the Sky (1943), the first Black leading lady in a major studio musical. In 1949, she starred in the racial drama Pinky. Her performance earned her a nomination for Best Supporting Actress, the second African American actor to be nominated for an Oscar. /9

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By 1939, Waters broke through another glass ceiling when she starred in Mamba’s Daughters, becoming the first Black woman to headline a dramatic Broadway play. That same year, she starred in The Ethel Waters Show, making her the first African American to star in their own TV special. /8

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In 1936, Waters co-founded and led the Negro Actors Guild of America. Mainstream entertainment unions either banned Black performers or restricted their membership. The Guild was the first organization of its kind dedicated to the elevation and economic survival of African American performers. /7

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