Taraji P. Henson
Actress, Producer, Author
Mental Health Advocate
Founder of Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation
Jaraji P. Henson, Actress, Mental Health Advocate (Photo by Philip Romano)
Jaraji (tah RAH he) Penda Henson founded Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation because she, her son, and her father, a Vietnam veteran, did not get therapy that could relieve their mental health complications. In addition, she believes people of color are not taken seriously about these problems.
Henson has issues with anxiety and depression and encourages people to seek help. At www.wondermind.com she says she founded BLHF “to help the Black community access culturally competent therapists and programs…” The nonprofit funds the SheCareWellness Pods, which are physical structures at historically Black colleges and universities that provide free mental health sessions for women.
Henson has an impressive list of awards as an actress: a Golden Globe, six Emmy Awards, a Tony Award, and Academy Award nominations. She was the first Black actress to win the Critics’ Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Cookie Lyon in Empire. She is also a singer with “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp,” which won the Academy Award in 2006 for Best Original Song on the soundtrack to Three 6 Mafia. She has appeared on television, the stage and in music videos. She’s had roles in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Color Purple and Hidden Figures. She is currently starring on Broadway in Joe Turner’s Come and Gone.
Bio
- Born – September 11, 1970, in Washington, D.C.
- Mother, Bernice Gordon, a corporate manager; father, Boris Lawrence Henson, janitor and metal fabricator
- 1988 – graduated from Oxon Hill High School, Oxon Hill, Maryland
- 1988-89 – freshman year of college at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University to study electrical engineering
- 1989-95 – graduated from Howard University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, major in drama
Career—Some of her roles
- 1998 – Film debut in Streetwise
- 2005 – movie Hustle & Flow
- 2008 – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- 2010 – The Karate Kid
- 2015-2020 – Cookie Lyon in the television series Empire
- 2020 – Founded her production company TPH Entertainment
- 2026-present – Starring on Broadway in Joe Turner’s Come and Gone
Personal
- 1994 – Son Marcell Johnson born May 10 to Henson and her high school sweetheart William LaMarr Johnson
- 2003 – William Johnson was beaten, stabbed and died over a confrontation about slashed tires
- 2015-2020 – Partner, Kelvin Hayden
- 2016 – Henson wrote her memoir, Around the Way GIRL
Further information
www.futureofpersonalhealth.com/mental-health/how-taraji-p-henson-is-helping-others-achieve-mental-wealth
www.wondermind.com/article/taraji-p-henson
https://abcnews.com/GMA/Culture/taraji-henson-opens-death/story?id=75079187
My ebooks available at amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com:
Honoring 23 Black Women, Recognizing 23 Notable Mothers, Saluting 23 Faithful Suffragists
