Rihanna made it to Harvard University on Tuesday afternoon (Feb. 28) to accept the 2017 Peter J. Gomes Humanitarian of the Year Award and delivered a powerful speech at the podium.
Dr. S. Allen Counter, the Harvard Foundation's director, introduced the pop titan, applauding her for work in various humanitarian areas, including her Believe Foundation, UNICEF participation, and her Clara Lionel Foundation Global Scholarship Program. "Robyn Rihanna Fenty has shared her time, her talents and her treasure for humanitarian causes around the world and it is for these reasons, we present her with the 2017 Harvard Humanitarian of the Year Award," he said.
With her hair tied back in a tidy ponytail, the 29-year-old star walked up to the podium and explained that her mission to help others is something that she never really wanted credit for. "So I made it to Harvard," she told the roaring audience. "Never thought I'd be able to say it that in my life, but it feels good. . . .I'm incredibly humbled by this to be acknowledged at this magnitude for something, in truth, I never wanted credit for."
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Rih went on to admit that her yearning to help folks started as a kid when she used to watch TV commercials that urged viewers to donate 25 cents to children in need of help. "I was watching other children suffer in other parts of the world. The commercials, y'know, you could give 25 cents and save a child's life. I think to myself, 'I wonder how many 25 cents I could save up to save all the kids in Africa.' I would say to myself, 'When I grow up, and I can get rich, I’m gonna save kids all over the world.’ I just didn’t know I would be in the position to do that by the time I was a teenager," she triumphantly explained.
Later on, the Dior spokesperson encouraged folks to help out when available because, after all, you don't need fame to assist others. "I see optimism. I see hope. I see the future," she said to the audience, "I know that each and every one of you has the opportunity to help someone else. All you need to do is help one person, expecting nothing in return," she explained. "To me, that is a humanitarian. People make it seem way too hard, man. The truth is, and what the little girl watching those commercials didn't know, is that you don't have to be rich to be a humanitarian, to help somebody. You don't have to be famous. You don't have to be college-educated."
Watch Rihanna's speech at the 1:16:00 mark below!
Original article by James Dinh at iHeartRadio