Billie Jean Young (born 1947, died March 2021) was an actor, activist, poet and educator. She lived in

Marion, Alabama Marion is a city in, and the county seat of, Perry County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city is 3,686, up 4.8% over 2000. First known as Muckle Ridge, the city was renamed for a hero of the American Revolu ...

from which she traveled the world to teach and work with young people. She graduated from Judson College, and Samford University’s

Cumberland School of Law Cumberland School of Law is an American Bar Association, ABA accredited law school at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. It was founded in 1847 at Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee and is the 11th oldest law schoo ...

. She taught at

Jackson State University Jackson State University (Jackson State or JSU) is a public historically black research university in Jackson, Mississippi. It is one of the largest HBCUs in the United States and the fourth largest university in Mississippi in terms of studen ...

. 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 The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and largest of the publi ...

Hoole Special Collections Library.

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 2014 Black Belt Hall of Fame Award 2011 Girl Scouts of North Central Alabama Woman of Distinction 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

''Mississippi Public Television'' www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7e452X_UAk Performing Fannie Lou Hamer: This Little Light... {{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Billie 1947 births Judson College (Alabama) alumni Samford University alumni Jackson State University faculty Mississippi State University faculty MacArthur Fellows Living people People from Choctaw County, Alabama