Abike Jotayo storyteller, cultural historian and poet has been an "edutainer" for over 25 years. Her story program "TALKING BROUGHT ME HERE", uses African folktales and historical stories to inform, as well as entertain her audiences. All of Abike's programs involve the audience and she stresses theater as a learning tool. "In our tradition storytellers were the first teachers. I hope to rejoin these historic links to education." Abike is the founder of Ile Omo Children's Productions and co-founder of the African Folk Heritage Circle. She is currently the storyteller in residence at the Society for the Preservation of Weeksville & Bedford-Stuyvesant History.

Ms. Jotayo has received numerous awards for her dedication to the youth of New York City. Abike feels sure that her work has sparked in young audiences a renewed interest in the timeless traditions of storytelling and she says that her greatest reward is when a child comes up to her and says "I like the one about..." and retells that story in their own storyteller voice.

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