"text-align: justify; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; mso-layout-grid-align: none; punctuation-wrap: simple;">

BAY

MINETTE, Ala.

"font-size: small;">— Billie Jean Young will bring Fannie Lou Hamer

alive once again during Faulkner State’s annual Black History Month

program, scheduled for Feb. 23 at 7 p.m. at the L. D. Owen

Performing Arts Center on the Bay Minette Campus.

"text-align: justify; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; mso-layout-grid-align: none; punctuation-wrap: simple;">

Young

has been keeping the history of the Civil Rights Movement current

for more than a quarter century with her powerful one-woman show,

“Fannie Lou Hamer: This

Little Light.”

"text-align: justify; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; mso-layout-grid-align: none; punctuation-wrap: simple;">

Young

has traveled for nearly 29 years, performing an introduction to the

powerful Mississippi sharecropper named Fannie Lou Hamer. “This

Little Light” evokes memories of the 1960’s for those who lived it

and introduces the era to youth of all ages. Admission is free for

this dramatic and musical event, and the public is invited to

attend.

"text-align: justify; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; mso-layout-grid-align: none; punctuation-wrap: simple;">

"font-size: small;"> 

"text-align: justify; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">

"font-size: small;">Young is associate professor of Fine and

Performing Arts and theater artist-in residence at Judson College,

from which she was graduated in 1974. A published author of three

books, “Fear Not the Fall,” New South Books; “Now How You Do? A

Memoir;” and “Family Secrets,” both published by Westry Wingate

Press. Young is a poet, playwright and chronicler of both Blackbelt

history and Black History. She earned a Juris Doctorate from

Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law, and she is a

playwright and director of theater as well.

"text-align: justify; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">

"font-size: small;">Young is a

history-maker in her own right, having been featured in the 20ll

AT&T-sponsored Alabama African American history calendar

(

"http://www.alafricanamerican.com/" href=

"http://www.alafricanamerican.com/">http://www.alafricanamerican.com/),

which is produced in partnership with the Alabama State Department

of Education. Her book, “Fear Not the Fall,” is a supplement to the

social-studies curriculum for grades four-12 in Alabama public

schools. The Girl Scouts of West Central Alabama in Tuscaloosa

named Dr. Young a Woman of Distinction in 2011.

"text-align: justify; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">

"font-size: small;"> 

"text-align: justify; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; mso-layout-grid-align: none; punctuation-wrap: simple;">

The New

York Amsterdam News characterized

Young’s performance in “This Little Light” at New York’s National

Black Theater as “nothing short of phenomenal,” and Debbie Bouton’s

writing in

"mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Ruralamerica

described the one-woman show as “dramatic and awesomely

powerful.”  Fannie Lou

Hamer’s best friend, the late Annelle Ponder, said upon witnessing

Young’s first performance in Mississippi in 1983:

"mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">“Watching Billie Jean, I thought

there for a while Fannie Lou had come back to us.” Young has

received numerous awards for her portrayal of the former

sharecropping woman, notable among them the Mississippi Governor’s

Award for Artistic Achievement, the MacArthur Fellows Genius award,

and the Congressional Black Caucus’ On the Road to Freedom

Award. 

"text-align: justify; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; mso-layout-grid-align: none; punctuation-wrap: simple;">

"font-size: small;"> 

"text-align: justify; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: none; mso-layout-grid-align: none; punctuation-wrap: simple;">

For more

information on this event, contact Faulkner State Community College

at 251-580-2106.