*Taraji P. Henson delivered an emotional testimony before Congress on Friday about the vital need for mental health counselors and education, especially in the black community.
The “Empire” star, who is the founder of The Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation, spoke from a personal perspective before the Congressional Black Caucus Emergency Taskforce on Black Youth Suicide and Mental Health on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.
“We, in the African American community, we don’t deal with mental health issues. We don’t even talk about it,” Taraji said. “We’ve been taught to pray our problems away.”
OTHER NEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED: NeNe Leakes Forced to Sit Out for AT LEAST the First Part of ‘RHOA’ Season 12 Filming
(Source: Getty Images North America)
“We can’t give up on our kids, and I think that’s where it starts,” she continued. “I think we [have to] implement mental illness or mental health as education in school. It needs to be a subject just like sex education was or physical education. We need to talk about it. The more we talk about it, the more people will feel like they can talk about it. I really don’t know how to fix this problem. I just know this suicide rate is rising. I just know the ages of the children that are committing suicide are getting younger and younger.”
Henson believes parents would be more compelled to help their children with homework if mental healthcare were a part of the curriculum.
“I feel like I’ve really found my purpose,” she said. “It’s hard,” she says. “But he knew it and he was able to get the help that he needed.”
She added, “Why focus on the negative? He’s not here. It wasn’t all bad with my dad. He had his moments. But when you’re dealing with mental illness, that’s what you’re gonna have. But most of the memories were good,” she says. “I miss him. He needs to see me now.”
Henson’s father died in 2005, two years after her son’s father “was murdered, brutally, here in Washington, D.C.,” she recalled. “It was time for us to get help.”
Henson’s organization was established in honor her father, a Vietnam veteran who reportedly suffered from PTSD and manic depression.
Scroll up and watch her testimony via the YouTube clip above.
We Publish News 24/7. Don’t Miss A Story. Click HERE to SUBSCRIBE to Our Newsletter Now!
