Actress Taraji P Henson, who is in South Africa, has spoken about her foundation that is aimed towards tackling mental health. She wants to make her foundation cool for black communities to shake off the stigma and get help.
Her visit to the country is to interact with her local fan base and promote her current projects, including the Empire Fox series.
Taraji’s foundation, the Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation, is in honor of her late father, who suffered from mental health.
“He was very open about talking about it [mental health]. Lived his truth and that’s what this foundation is about. He taught me to live and walk in my truth because when you know who you are, nobody can use you against you.”
She and her son too have been through traumatic moments.
“He’s becoming a young black man. And so it was very hard. It isn’t even about race, you just have to be culturally competent. If you don’t know my struggle and I come in full of rage… black people have a lot to be angry about…”
Taraji also spoke about how black people often do not get the necessary help because they are misdiagnosed.
“You can’t give me a pill for my rage. I don’t need a pill. I need you to hear me. But you have to be culturally competent to do that.”
