Empire Star Taraji P. Henson Addresses Mental Health Awareness Week

Empire star Taraji P. Henson is reflecting on the importance of addressing mental health issues and how it affects the African American community, especially teenagers, in honor of Mental Health Awareness Month.

Empire Legend Speaks Out

The Empire actress shared a post to Instagram on Wednesday, thanking The Today Show for allowing her to speak about the stigma attached to mental health in the African American community and how she’s working to move the conversation forward.

“IG THANKS to @todayshow and @mariashriver for covering this important topic! The more we talk about mental health, the more we normalize it,” she wrote.

Helping Students Learn
Henson visited The Chicago High School of the Arts and talked to students about mental health and why the African American community isn’t as open about suffering from anxiety or depression.

“THANK YOU @chiartshs students and staff for doing the work to make your school and community a safe place to learn and LOVE. The peace circles and peace room, we hope to see and help implement in schools across the country. The students were outstanding!!! Keep up the good work!”

The Empire star continued, adding, “SUPER THANKS to our visual art partner @theartistcierralynn who tirelessly continues to pour positivity into the souls of children through art. We ❤ you!!”

A Great Foundation

Henson founded the Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation, which partners with schools to help African American children who need help with their mental health. The foundation also gives scholarships to African American students who want to become therapists.

She has also testified to Congress and asked for more funding for mental health in African American communities.

Henson shared a video of her interview to her Instagram account and opened up about what it means to grow up as an African American in this country.

“To wake up and to know that at any moment you could be a target just because of the color of your skin, that is a heavy weight to carry. For children, that is a heavy weight to carry. For adults. Because the adults are the mothers, the brothers, the uncles, the grandmothers, the sisters. We all carry it.”