Alumni Impact: Cheick Touré
Alumni Impact is a social media campaign that recognizes the excellent work being done by FIUTS alumni all around the world. This week, meet Cheick!
—
Cheick Touré, 2020 SUSI alum and rapper from Bamako, Mali.
Cheick with his fellow SUSI participant from Mali, Ahmed
Hi FIUTS family! My name is Cheick Touré, I am writing this blog from Bamako, Mali. First and foremost, I would like to thank the FIUTS staff and community for hosting me and giving me the opportunity to be a part of the SUSI program. I did not have the chance to thank you all properly, so I would like to use this opportunity to express my utmost gratitude to you all.
Some of you know that I am from a country where the majority of the population is uneducated. As an artist, I believe that it is my moral obligation to raise awareness of key issues within my country. One of the ways that I have been able to mobilize others is through social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook, where I have a considerable number of followers. As someone with a platform in my country, I cannot rest easy knowing that I am not using my influence for good. Through social media, I am able to reach over 250,000 people with videos, free-styles, and other media to inform my fans and followers of this epidemic.
Among the advice that I give followers is to wear masks, wear gloves if you can, and respect a 2-meter difference from others. Right now, what we can do is pass along these messages to prevent transmission and do our best to respect public health measures. For us in Mali, it is hard to be living in quarantine. In a country where the majority of the population is not employed at working-desk jobs, being confined to our homes is not feasible.
Our country is among the poorest in the world and as a consequence the government cannot place responsibility on all citizens to stay home. When you do not work at a large organization that gives you the financial stability to stay home and your government does not have the resources to take care of you, you are obligated to go out and find work. Shops remain open, public institutions remain open and all we can do as a society is raising awareness of the epidemic. The minimum we can do as citizens is to look out for each other and share information. The minimum I can do as an artist is to use my platform to look out for others.
If you have any questions or would like to know more about any of the topics I discussed in this blog, please do not hesitate to send them my way!
Cheick Touré is a 2020 alum of the FIUTS SUSI on Civic Engagement. He is a rapper from Mali who raps under the name 2BTO King. Watch his video raising awareness about preventing COVID-19 (in French) here.
SUSI programs promote a better understanding of the people, institutions, and culture of the United States among international students, teachers, and scholars. Study of the U.S. Institutes (SUSIs) are short-term academic programs for groups of undergraduate leaders, educators, and scholars from around the world. Hosted by academic institutions throughout the United States, these 5- to 6-week Institutes include an intensive academic residency and an integrated educational study tour. Extracurricular cultural and community activities help to broaden the participants’ understanding of U.S. society. Learn more about SUSI programs here.
Guest posts on the FIUTS blog represent the experiences and views of individual writers. They do not necessarily reflect the views of FIUTS or any organizations or institutions affiliated with our programs.