Dr. Annette Jefferson gives life to Ethel Waters, who recounts her trials and triumphs that blazed a trail and opened doors in the entertainment world for other performers, especially African Americans.
Most Americans if they remember Waters at all, recall a portly, white haired elderly woman who spoke sweetly and sang "His Eye on the Sparrow" at Billy Graham Crusades. But, it was her golden honey clover voice and those sleek shimmy swaying hips that earned her the mane of "Sweet Momma String Bean," making her popular success on the vaudeville chitlin' circuit and night clubs.
Later, it was her instinctive acting ability and spirited stage presence that secured her place in Broadway theater, radio, films and television. Ethel Waters as a "colored" entertainer was denied the ladder to success. The rungs were broken and she couldn't climb without those important first steps, so she scrambled up the rough side of the mountain to be the top earning Black woman, of her day, in the United State and second African American actress to be nominated for an Academy Award.