By Ibrahim Joenal Sesay
September 08, 2020, (232News)
BEIJING – African artist Mariatu Kargbo, known as the Black Pearl of China, has released an original song called “Come on, China!” to support the fight against coronavirus. The song was produced by leading Chinese artist agency SMILE and features K.O.K. one of Sierra Leone’s top artists, along with winners of CCTV’s Road to the Stars show.
The video features kids from many schools in Africa, including countries previously affected by the Ebola outbreak, holding signs with the message “Come on, China! Come on, Wuhan!” It also includes photographs showing the donation ceremony held at the China Charity Federation in which the Commonwealth Society of Beijing (CSB) contributed RMB200, 000 to the fight against the virus.
Speaking about the song, Mariatu says “I am here to give back to China and the world and this song expresses my hope that everyone will come together to fight the common enemy and help the world return to normal life soon. We are all one family, no matter our backgrounds, and music transcends all boundaries”.
About Mariatu Kargbo
Mariatu is an artist and philanthropist who was born very poor in Sierra Leone. She came to fame in China through CCTV’s Road to the Stars talent show and is now devoted to giving back to less privileged people around the world. She was among the first foreign volunteers at the Sichuan earthquakes in 2008 and 2010 and was appointed as Cultural Ambassador-at-Large by the President of Sierra Leone in 2016.
Mariatu achieved Sierra Leone’s first ever Guinness World Records title in 2012 and teamed up with Tencent and the World Food Programme to achieve a second world record in 2014 for the most contributions to a charity fund-raising event in 24 hours in support of the Ebola-affected countries of Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia. Mariatu supports many charities in China, Africa and around the world and has established her own foundation which has changed the lives of thousands of kids.
Mariatu was a finalist in the Miss World competition in 2009 and won two awards for Talent and Fashion. She has performed widely in China with top artists such as Jackie Chan and Yang Wenwen as well as performing for the Top 100 Entrepreneurs, including Jack Ma (founder of Alibaba).
In 2018, Mariatu was chosen to perform for President Xi Jinping and the First Lady and all Africa’s Presidents and First Ladies at the FOCAC event in Beijing. In 2019, Mariatu was selected as one of the Top 100 Influential Africans under 40 by MIPAD at the United Nations in New York.
In 2020, Mariatu launched “Smallsmallchinese”, a new online video series that introduces Chinese culture and teaches people to speak simple Chinese words and phrases.
