One of the five American Black Film Festival (ABFF) honorees, Taraji P. Henson, showed off newer tattoo of hers as she took the stage to make her speech. As she raised her left arm, she said, “I got this tattoo a year ago, ‘The truth,’ because at the end of the day, that’s all we have, our truth. And if you are alive and God blessed you with another day to live, it is your time to tell the truth. Because by you telling the truth, you’re setting yourself free and somebody else free. But if you stay quiet, nothing changes.”
Tyrese, Henson’s longtime friend and Baby Boy co-star, presented the actress with the ABFF’s Excellence in the Arts Award. During The Color Purple’s promotional tour, Henson made it a point to acknowledge the industry’s pay disparity for Black actresses.
Referencing these comments in her speech, Henson said, “It’s a scary thing to tell you the truth because you just never know…But at the end of the day, I know God’s got my back and when I’m speaking my truth, it is what it is. You can’t change it, it’s the truth…I know we have these trials and tribulations, and sometimes you feel like the work is to no avail, but it is. Even in those dark moments, your work matters.”
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