There’s one phrase fans won’t be hearing Taraji P. Henson say anytime soon: Black Girl Magic.
In a new interview with Essence , the Empire actress explained why she finds the phase so damaging to Black women.
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She also used Serena Williams as an example to show how Black women are often disregarded in the healthcare system.
This is Taraji P. Henson.
You might know the Oscar-nominated actress from her strong leading roles in What Men Want , Think Like A Man , Proud Mary , The Best of Enemies , and Tyler Perry’s Acrimony .
Empire fans will recognize her as the character, Cookie Lyon.
She’s also a huge advocate for the Black Lives Matter movement.
Back in June, she proudly showed off her natural hair texture on social media.
This happened in the wake of George Floyd’s death , which sparked Black Lives Matter protests across the nation.
“Hair that defies gravity!!!” she captioned the post. “Hair that grows towards the heavens.”
She added the hashtags: #BlackandProud #BlackLivesMatter #RockYourFro #PickoutYourFro, and #ThrowUpYourFist.”
Later that day, she shared a video of her picking her afro.
She did this while listening to ‘Say It Loud – I’m Black and I’m Proud’ by James Brown.
The Empire actress’s empowering posts earned her lots of love and praise in the comments.
“My hair is blessed from looking at your hair,” wrote one user.
“Love you my Queen ✊ ✊ ” wrote her former *Empire* co-star, Jussie Smollett.
Octavia Spencer added, “I need this on a tee shirt!!!” with several flame emojis.
Tina Knowles, Beyoncé’s mother, wrote, “Fierceness” with tons of hearts and fire emojis.
While Taraji is a vocal supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement, there’s one phrase you won’t be hearing her say anytime soon:
“Black Girl Magic.”
If you’re wondering why, the actress recently explained her reasoning in an interview with Essence .
“It started off as an empowerment saying…because [Black women are] always neglected,” she began.
“We’re always at the bottom of the totem pole. We’re the least respected on the planet.”
“And so, it came as a [saying] to empower us.”
She continued:
“But then, as years [went] on, we’ve been ignored because of that very statement. It dehumanizes us. It dehumanizes our pain. It belittles our tears!”
“We’re supposed to be able to watch our brothers and sons, and fathers get murdered in the street, but we can take it because we’re strong.”
This has to do with the nature of the “Strong Black Women” syndrome that many Black women are facing today.
“We can deal with it, we can handle it. And that’s just not true,” she clarified.
“I have issues with titles like that, and ‘Black girl magic’ because we’re not fairies.”
She went on to explain that Black women are vulnerable, just like everyone else.
“We don’t magically rebound from pain. We hurt and suffer just like others,” she said.
“I just always felt some kind of way about those titles, once I became aware of what they were doing to us,” Taraji added.
The actress continued:
“The damage that it was creating for us and the stigma around Black women to implement that we are strong enough to get over anything.”
She then used Serena Williams as an example of Black women being disregarded in the healthcare system.
The athlete went through a near-death experience when giving birth to her daughter.
In a 2018 interview with Vogue , Serena revealed that she identified her own symptoms of a pulmonary embolism, but hospital workers ignored her requests to run some tests.
“We have to be careful with that. Very careful with that term,” Henson warned.
She also said that there’s a misconception that strength comes from “bravado.”
“Strength is in being vulnerable. And that’s what I want my people to understand.”
“The strength is in being vulnerable and being honest with yourself, and saying, ‘You know what, I’m scared right now.'”
She continued: Or, ‘I honestly don’t know what to do right now.'”
For more of Taraji’s interview with Essence , you can check it out here.
h/t: Essence
