“Over the past 11 years, there were promises made to protect and portray my story, with the authenticity and honesty I gave. I was betrayed, taken advantage of, overworked, and underpaid. I wrote a letter over 2 months ago asking to be freed from what I believed was excessive and unfair. I explained in personal detail the demise I was experiencing. My cry for help went totally ignored. However, the demands persisted. It was my spirit and my soul that was tainted the most. There are a few things I count on most to be, a good mother, a good daughter, a good partner, a good sister, and a good person. Who I was, begun to mean little to nothing, because it would only be how I was portrayed on television that would matter. It was witnessing the slow death of the woman I became, which discouraged my will to fight. I felt like I was no longer living, I was existing for the purpose of a corporations gain and ratings, and that killed me.”
Taraji’s suicide incident sheds light on mental health–the illness that her foundation was founded on.
“When Covid happened, my heart went out and I just knew that people were suffering and they’re suffering alone in isolation.”
The Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded in 2018 by Taraji P. Henson and led by Executive Director, Tracie Jade Jenkins. The foundation is named in honor of Ms. Henson’s father, Boris Lawrence Henson, who suffered with mental health challenges as a result of his tour of duty in the Vietnam War. We are committed to changing the perception of mental illness in the African-American community by encouraging those who suffer with this debilitating illness to get the help they need.
They extend services to cover those impacted directly or indirectly by the injustice and maltreatment of African-Americans observed over the last few months.
BLHF launched the Free Virtual Therapy Support Campaign to raise money for mental health services provided by licensed clinicians in their network. Individuals with life-changing stressors and anxiety due to the troubling events of this unprecedented time, would have the cost for up to five (5) individual sessions defrayed on a first come, first serve basis until all funds are committed or exhausted.
For more on Taraji’s Boris L. Johnson foundation, click here.