Zaye Tete

Zaye is a singer, songwriter, and dancer from Liberia. At a young age she was selected to go to the capital city, Monrovia and join the National Cultural Troupe, the country’s best performing arts ensemble, where she became a principal singer with the troupe, and performed all around Liberia. When war reached the capital in 1990, she and the other artists ran to safety across the border to the Ivory Coast where she founded a performing arts ensemble for Liberian refugee youth. She felt a responsibility to teach them traditional values of peace and respect in the midst of war and exile. Her goal there, and now, here in the U.S., is to give others the chance to know where they come from, to know and own their heritage, and to be able to use their voices to speak out about what is right and wrong. Zaye has a successful solo career, composing and performing songs based on community issues and has formed a group with other Liberian singers focused on addressing domestic violence in the Liberian immigrant community.