Billie Jean Young will bring Fannie Lou Hamer alive once again to kick off Black History Month on Feb. 8 at 7 p.m. in Judson College’s Alumnae Auditorium.

Young has been keeping the history of the Civil Rights Movement current for more than a quarter century with her amazingly powerful one-woman show, “Fannie Lou Hamer: This LittleLight . . . .” She has traveled the world for almost twenty-eight years to tell the story of the fearless Mississippi freedom fighter.

“The New York Amsterdam News” characterized Young’s performance in “This Little Light” (as the show is popularly called) at New York’s National Black Theater as “phenomenal” and Debbie Bouton described the one-woman show as “dramatic and awesomely powerful.”

Hamer’s best friend, Annelle Ponder, said of Young’s first performance in Mississippi: “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 and the MacArthur Fellows Genius Award.

The multi-talented Young is 1974 graduate of Judson College where she serves as artist-in residence in theatre. She is a published author, a poet, playwright and chronicler of Blackbelt history and the history of black people everywhere. She was featured in the 20ll AT&T- sponsored Alabama African American history calendar which is produced in partnership with the Alabama State Department of Education, and is a supplement to the social studies curriculum for grades 4-12 in Alabama public schools.

“This Little Light . . .” is one-hour long and is being produced and managed by Judson drama production students.

There is no admission charge and the public is invited.

For further information, call producing manager, Jana Propst at 706-573-5367.