Billie Jean Young (July 21, 1947 – March 31, 2021) was an American actress, activist, poet and educator.
She lived in Marion, Alabama, from where she traveled the world to teach and work with young people. She graduated from Judson College, and Samford University's Cumberland School of Law. She taught at Jackson State University. She has taught at Mississippi State University, Meridian campus. She was Artist-in-Residence at Judson College. Her papers are held at the University of Alabama Hoole Special Collections Library.
Young died on March 31, 2021, at the age of 73.
Awards 1984: MacArthur Fellows Program 1995: Mississippi Governor's Award for Artistic Achievement 1995: Lucy Terry Prince Unsung Heroine Award 2009: Southern Rural Black Women's Hall of Fame Award 2011: Girl Scouts of North Central Alabama Woman of Distinction Award 2014: Black Belt Hall of Fame Award
Works "Fannie Lou Hamer: This Little Light", Mississippi Writers: Drama, Editor Dorothy Abbott, University Press of Mississippi, 1991, Fear Not The Fall, New South Books, 2004, Editor, Now How You Do, a memoir, 2009, Westry Wingate Press, Family Secrets, Westry Wingate Press, 2009,
References
External links Author's website Conversations - (#622) Sonny Brewer; Billie Jean Young, Mississippi Public Television Performing Fannie Lou Hamer: This Little Light