Taraji P. Henson Is Defeating Mental Health Stigmas With Start Of Her Own Nonprofit Organization
By: Omar Cook
Taraji P. Henson decided to open up about her own mental health battles within her family with the launch of her new nonprofit organization Saturday. The Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation is named after her late father and is aimed to make mental health care in the black community commonplace.
Taraji was pushed to advocate for mental health awareness among African Americans due to her son battling his own mental health issues after the murder of his father in 2003. In search of mental health help for her son, she was looking “someone that he could trust, someone that looks like him and could understand his struggle,” but said it was hard because “they wouldn’t be African American and it wouldn’t get anything accomplished because he felt guilty for the things he was saying.”
It’s no secret that mental health awareness in the black community is not taken as seriously as it should be. Henson told Variety:
“It was like looking for a unicorn, and the reason that happens is because we don’t talk about it in our community; it’s taboo, it’s looked upon as a weakness or we’re demonized for expressing rage for traumas we’ve been through. I have a lot of white friends and that’s what got me going. They say, ‘You don’t talk to anybody? Girl, I’m going to see my shrink every Thursday at 3 o’clock.’ So I was like why don’t we do that in our community?”
The Empire star understood the need for celebrity power behind her movement because “the misconception about celebrities that we have it all together and we’re perfect and we’re not. Our kids aren’t perfect, we’re suffering and struggling just like the regular person and money doesn’t help. I thank God I can pay for the psychiatry bill but it doesn’t necessarily take away the problems.”
During the event, Henson also discussed her own mental health issues and that she also she’s a therapist. “I’m here to tell you that when they tell cut and the cameras go away, I go home to real problems just like everybody else” Taraji said. She stated she wanted to be transparent in hopes that “people go, “Oh wow she’s going through it? Well I’m alright then.”
The first mission of her foundation was to put art in inner city schools with hopes that this will help combat suicide, bullying and depression. Taraji partnered with artist Cierra Lynn and the thought process behind the art in bathrooms is that this is “where fights happened, jumps, that’s where you got bullied because the teachers weren’t in there, so I thought that was a great thing to do to flip it. You go there to get your head together and instead of seeing hate stuff or whatever madness kids put in there, we decided to turn it into art.”
Actress Jennifer Lewis who also attended the event and has been open about her own bipolar disorder has made mental health awareness a priority for her. “We are as sick as our secrets and it’s time for people to come together, to reach out to those who are hiding in dark rooms, reach out to those who are afraid to take the next step, reach out to those who want to be better and don’t know how to,” Lewis said.
Having celebrities get behind the mental health awareness movement is big because people can see that their are people that they look up to that go through the same things. Black celebrities are looking to eliminate the stigma behind mental health issues in the black community and this is something everyone can get behind!
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