Billie Young

Billie Jean Young (July 21, 1947 – March 31, 2021) was an American actress, activist, poet and educator.^[1]

Billie Young
Born	(1947-07-21)July 21, 1947
Died	March 31, 2021(2021-03-31) (aged 73)
Academic work
Institutions	Jackson State University faculty, Mississippi State University

She lived in Marion, Alabama, from where she traveled the world to teach and work with young people.^[2] She graduated from Judson College,^[3] and Samford University's Cumberland School of Law. She taught at Jackson State University. She has taught at Mississippi State University, Meridian campus.^[4] She was Artist-in-Residence at Judson College.^[5] Her papers are held at the University of Alabama Hoole Special Collections Library.

Young died on March 31, 2021, at the age of 73.^[6]

Awards

• 1984: MacArthur Fellows Program^[7]
• 1995: Mississippi Governor's Award for Artistic Achievement ^[8]
• 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, ISBN 978-0-87805-238-7
• Fear Not The Fall, New South Books, 2004, ISBN 978-1-58838-161-3
• Editor, Now How You Do, a memoir, 2009, Westry Wingate Press, ISBN 978-1-935323-04-4
• Family Secrets, Westry Wingate Press, 2009,ISBN 9781935323150