Taraji P. Henson talks suffering in silence, motherhood, Black sisterhood, and the need for more compassion and empathy.
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00:00I
00:03Didn't mean to do this something inside of me broke
00:10I told them
00:12I need my money to get my daughter's medicine. She's sick. I just need to cash my check. That's all
00:19Hi, Lynette Nicholas with Essence. How are you good? How are you? I'm doing good. I feel great
00:34Thankful to be here now. We know Janiya is a single black woman. We know she's under financial pressure
00:39We know that she does not have a network with her mom and her sister
00:43When you know characterizing her
00:45Psychologically, how did you approach the script because there were so many triggers she could have had in the day and there's so many layers
00:51What was her back story?
00:54Her back story is that you know
00:56She's a mother first and everything that she does is for her child
01:01You know, that's what keeps her getting up every day because she knows she has this small human that she created
01:07Depending on her so her life is her child. Yeah, right and that's her drive. That's what drives her
01:14So when she can't do something for her child
01:19The world stops like yeah, you know what? I mean as you saw in the film
01:22It's like all I want to do is make sure my baby has what she needs absolutely and that's the desire of every mother
01:29Absolutely, and that's one of parents greatest fear to not being able to provide
01:33That's like heart-wrenching
01:36She even mentioned to
01:38Nicole the bank manager that when she goes to jail that she would want Nicole to have custody
01:44Over her daughter as opposed to her mother and her sister and everybody talks especially in black and brown communities
01:49We talk about sisterhood and we talk about it takes a village
01:52But can you speak to the reality that sometimes family is not supportive there sometimes they can be your enemy?
02:00What's the importance of having people around you to pour into you?
02:02It is very important. Yeah, I you know the difference between Janaya and myself as a single mom
02:08Is that I had that sister circle and that support team and Janaya did not yeah, and it's so important because when you get to these breaking moments
02:16You need a team around you that's going to talk you off the legs or refocus you yeah
02:22There's nothing really noble to when you are under pressure and when you're about to break
02:26There's nothing noble about not reaching out to out for help
02:32Do you have any words of encouragement for the Janaya's who will watch this movie and or the Janaya's just out there?
02:39Who are silently struggling you don't need to suffer in silence you are never alone if you speak out
02:45You will see many hands go up and say me too. Yeah, so reach out
02:49I don't know if it's other mothers or single mothers where your child goes to school
02:53Reach out be a friend gain a friend
02:57Sometimes it's not your family like you said
03:00Family is what you make sometimes you create family outside of family with friends, but you you're never alone
03:06You're never alone. No humans should have to suffer in silence
03:10Now as mothers, you know women we know that when we see other parents that's only a snapshot yes of their day
03:16Can you speak to the importance in your opinion of being of training ourselves?
03:21To be active lift listeners and empathetic to other people because sometimes we're so busy in our moment
03:26um
03:27It's easy for someone to feel invisible or unseen or unheard right yeah, which is what nicole
03:33Does for um janaya and so does agent raymond a simple hello
03:38Yeah, a simple real question. How are you today?
03:42Waiting for the response and actually listening to the response can save it save a human's life
03:47Please have a support circle around you to help you with that