Meet “Mama Yaa”

Nana Yaa Asantewaa, an international storyteller, artist and workshop facilitator, is affectionately known throughout her travels as "Mama Yaa." She is a native of Kentucky where she acquired her love for stories and the arts from her family. Over a span of 40 years, she has shared her artistry in the Virgin Islands, the African countries of Ghana, Togo, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Gambia and Gabon.

She has received the distinguished Governor's Community Artist Award, City of Louisville "Merit Award" and represented the city as a delegate to the 1994 International African and African American Summit.

The storytelling artistry of "Mama Yaa" is nationally televised via satellite on the "Telling Tales" series, produced by the Kentucky Educational Television Network. As a "storyteller" and presenter of the African oral tradition, she is featured in the prestigious "Gullah Festival" held in Beaufort, South Carolina, and the PANAFEST in Ghana, West Africa.

An original dramatic piece written by Yaa, entitled "Freedom Knows My Name" is now touring. The work reveals the lives of three esteemed African American women, Matilda J. Dunbar, Araminta Harriet Tubman, and Fannie Lou Hamer. It is her people's story of freedom.

The artist is a graduate of the University of Louisville and has performed for the Indiana University Southeast Ogle Center, University's Women's Center, and the National Black Family Conference.

Nana Yaa Asantewaa is a member of the National Association of Black Storytellers. Her work is inspirational and educational.

If you would like more information, please contact "Mama Yaa" at:

1-502-774-4178