Alabama Actress Keeps Fannie Lou Hamer’s “Little Light” Shining

| February 4, 2016 

 ========= Old Image Removed =========Array
(
    [_wp_attached_file] => Array
        (
            [0] => 2016/02/Billie-Jean-Young-brings-Fannie-Lou-Hamers-story-to-life.jpg
        )

    [_wp_attachment_metadata] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:5:{s:5:"width";i:1920;s:6:"height";i:1080;s:4:"file";s:68:"2016/02/Billie-Jean-Young-brings-Fannie-Lou-Hamers-story-to-life.jpg";s:5:"sizes";a:13:{s:6:"medium";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:68:"Billie-Jean-Young-brings-Fannie-Lou-Hamers-story-to-life-336x189.jpg";s:5:"width";i:336;s:6:"height";i:189;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:5:"large";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:68:"Billie-Jean-Young-brings-Fannie-Lou-Hamers-story-to-life-771x434.jpg";s:5:"width";i:771;s:6:"height";i:434;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:68:"Billie-Jean-Young-brings-Fannie-Lou-Hamers-story-to-life-140x140.jpg";s:5:"width";i:140;s:6:"height";i:140;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:12:"medium_large";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:68:"Billie-Jean-Young-brings-Fannie-Lou-Hamers-story-to-life-768x432.jpg";s:5:"width";i:768;s:6:"height";i:432;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"1536x1536";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:69:"Billie-Jean-Young-brings-Fannie-Lou-Hamers-story-to-life-1536x864.jpg";s:5:"width";i:1536;s:6:"height";i:864;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"wbhm-icon";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:66:"Billie-Jean-Young-brings-Fannie-Lou-Hamers-story-to-life-80x80.jpg";s:5:"width";i:80;s:6:"height";i:80;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:13:"wbhm-featured";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:68:"Billie-Jean-Young-brings-Fannie-Lou-Hamers-story-to-life-600x338.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:338;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:20:"wbhm-featured-square";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:68:"Billie-Jean-Young-brings-Fannie-Lou-Hamers-story-to-life-600x600.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:600;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:18:"wbhm-featured-home";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:68:"Billie-Jean-Young-brings-Fannie-Lou-Hamers-story-to-life-553x311.jpg";s:5:"width";i:553;s:6:"height";i:311;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:22:"wbhm-featured-carousel";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:68:"Billie-Jean-Young-brings-Fannie-Lou-Hamers-story-to-life-470x265.jpg";s:5:"width";i:470;s:6:"height";i:265;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:28:"ab-block-post-grid-landscape";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:68:"Billie-Jean-Young-brings-Fannie-Lou-Hamers-story-to-life-600x400.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:400;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:25:"ab-block-post-grid-square";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:68:"Billie-Jean-Young-brings-Fannie-Lou-Hamers-story-to-life-600x600.jpg";s:5:"width";i:600;s:6:"height";i:600;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:14:"post-thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:68:"Billie-Jean-Young-brings-Fannie-Lou-Hamers-story-to-life-125x125.jpg";s:5:"width";i:125;s:6:"height";i:125;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}}s:10:"image_meta";a:12:{s:8:"aperture";s:1:"0";s:6:"credit";s:0:"";s:6:"camera";s:0:"";s:7:"caption";s:0:"";s:17:"created_timestamp";s:1:"0";s:9:"copyright";s:0:"";s:12:"focal_length";s:1:"0";s:3:"iso";s:1:"0";s:13:"shutter_speed";s:1:"0";s:5:"title";s:0:"";s:11:"orientation";s:1:"0";s:8:"keywords";a:0:{}}}
        )

    [_media_credit] => Array
        (
            [0] => Red Mountain Theatre Co.
        )

    [_navis_media_credit_org] => Array
        (
            [0] => 
        )

    [_navis_media_can_distribute] => Array
        (
            [0] => 
        )

    [_imagify_optimization_level] => Array
        (
            [0] => 1
        )

    [_imagify_data] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:2:{s:5:"stats";a:3:{s:13:"original_size";i:1293080;s:14:"optimized_size";i:656254;s:7:"percent";d:49.25;}s:5:"sizes";a:9:{s:4:"full";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:96:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2016/02/Billie-Jean-Young-brings-Fannie-Lou-Hamers-story-to-life.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:1105032;s:14:"optimized_size";i:468926;s:7:"percent";d:57.560000000000002;}s:9:"thumbnail";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:104:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2016/02/Billie-Jean-Young-brings-Fannie-Lou-Hamers-story-to-life-140x140.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:11225;s:14:"optimized_size";i:11131;s:7:"percent";d:0.83999999999999997;}s:6:"medium";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:104:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2016/02/Billie-Jean-Young-brings-Fannie-Lou-Hamers-story-to-life-336x189.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:31021;s:14:"optimized_size";i:30684;s:7:"percent";d:1.0900000000000001;}s:5:"large";a:2:{s:7:"success";b:0;s:5:"error";s:77:"WELL DONE. This image is already compressed, no further compression required.";}s:13:"wbhm-featured";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:104:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2016/02/Billie-Jean-Young-brings-Fannie-Lou-Hamers-story-to-life-600x338.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:82028;s:14:"optimized_size";i:81895;s:7:"percent";d:0.16;}s:20:"wbhm-featured-square";a:2:{s:7:"success";b:0;s:5:"error";s:77:"WELL DONE. This image is already compressed, no further compression required.";}s:18:"wbhm-featured-home";a:2:{s:7:"success";b:0;s:5:"error";s:77:"WELL DONE. This image is already compressed, no further compression required.";}s:22:"wbhm-featured-carousel";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:104:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2016/02/Billie-Jean-Young-brings-Fannie-Lou-Hamers-story-to-life-470x265.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:54413;s:14:"optimized_size";i:54365;s:7:"percent";d:0.089999999999999997;}s:14:"post-thumbnail";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:104:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2016/02/Billie-Jean-Young-brings-Fannie-Lou-Hamers-story-to-life-125x125.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:9361;s:14:"optimized_size";i:9253;s:7:"percent";d:1.1499999999999999;}}}
        )

    [_imagify_status] => Array
        (
            [0] => success
        )

)
1653755439 
1454580680

“I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.”

~Fannie Lou Hamer~

Actress and Alabama native Billie Jean Young has has done something not many have; she’s performed the same show more than 800 times on four continents. Her one-woman tribute tells the story of a Mississippi sharecropper turned civil rights activist, whose courage and work are often overlooked and in some cases, forgotten. Young says she first met Fannie Lou Hamer in 1969 and was deeply moved by Hamer’s fearlessness.

Below is an extended interview with Billie Jean Young.

download

 

Fannie Lou Hamer speaking to a crowd.

Fannie Lou Hamer speaking to a crowd.

 

 

Vijay Iyer’s art of listening

The MacArthur fellow sits down with Lara Downes at the Big Ears Festival to discuss the creative states of improvising, composing and collaborating.

Word of the Week: How ‘pride’ shifted from vice to a symbol of LGBTQ empowerment

The word pride has shifted over the millennia, from being first used to describe one of the seven deadly sins in Roman Catholic theology to becoming a global symbol for LGBTQ strength and empowerment.

In a county that backed Trump, people depend on Medicaid and are conflicted about cuts

Medicaid plays a vital role in many rural communities that favored President Donald Trump in the 2024 election. But residents still seem open to Republican plans to cut perceived waste in the program.

‘We’re in a holding pattern’: Home sales and building slump in the face of uncertainty

Would-be homebuyers are finding lots of reasons to wait.

U.S. stops scheduling visa interviews for foreign students

The State Department has halted the scheduling of new visa interviews for foreign students while it prepares to expand the screening of their activity on social media, officials said.

Ex-police chief sentenced for rape and murder escaped prison disguised as prison guard

Law officers searched Arkansas' rugged Ozark Mountains for an ex-police chief and convicted killer who escaped prison by impersonating a guard and walking out through a gate a guard opened for him.

More Arts and Culture Coverage