“So I made it to Harvard. Never thought I’d be able to say that in my life, but it feels good.”

With those words, Rihanna kicked off her acceptance of Harvard University’s Humanitarian of the Year award. The pop star was given the prestigious honour on Tuesday in recognition of her extensive charity work – and, ever the consummate performer, her speech didn’t disappoint.

When she was a child growing up in Barbados, Rihanna said, she would see charity appeals on TV and think to herself: “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, when I can get rich, I’mma save kids all over the world’,” she continued. “I just didn’t know I would be in the position to do that by the time I was a teenager.”

You have to read Rihanna’s powerful speech about humanitarianism