Taraji P. Henson encourages Black creators to get louder: 'When we stay quiet, nothing changes'

Taraji P. Henson is continuing to be a voice for the voiceless Black actors and creators struggling for equity in Hollywood.

On Sunday, "The Color Purple" star accepted the excellence in the arts award at the American Black Film Festival Honors where she emphasized the importance of telling your truth.

"If you are alive and God blessed you with another day to live, it is your job to tell your truth," Henson said as she pointed to her bicep tattoo that reads "the truth," according to Variety and The Hollywood Reporter. "Because by you telling your truth, you set yourself free and somebody else free."

She added: "When we stay quiet, nothing changes. The squeaky wheel gets fixed."

Henson told the crowd to rely on their joy to "give you the ammo to continue to fight" for equity. "If you need a soldier by your side, I'm here. Keep telling your truth, because that's all we have."

The Oscar-nominee's comments about pay inequity while doing press for "The Color Purple" continued conversation about the fiscal worth Hollywood has placed on successful Black women.

"I almost had to walk away from 'The Color Purple,'" Henson said during an interview with the SAG-AFTRA Foundation in December, adding that she hadn't received a pay "raise" since her 2018 performance in "Proud Mary."

Of her pay dispute, the actress said, "I’m getting to a point where I just want to be 10 toes down on an island somewhere. Because (of) the fight as a Black woman. We do it with so much grace and get paid half the price of what we’re worth and that becomes difficult."

Last month, Time unveiled its 12 picks for the Women of the Year issue, which included Henson.

The actress said she felt compelled to push the discussion forward in public spaces, because "if we stay talking in small little circles, that's not going to change anything."

"But we do have allies out there, which I've found out by telling my truth," she added.

Henson likened her experience to that of the characters in "The Color Purple." "I'm in a movie about women who don't have a voice and are trying to find it. So who's going to stand up for them?"

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It's also a part of the reason she's spent time on other streams of income outside of acting, including a production company and her hair-care brand TPH. "I'm 53, and I'm getting tired," she told Time. "And then the disrespect: If there's a playground no one wants you to play on, are you going to keep showing up and hurting yourself?"

Henson has often portrayed characters dealing with the intersection between racism and sexism, from Shug Avery in "The Color Purple" to NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson in "Hidden Figures."

While it's important to share those stories, she noted that she has to be "conscious of making sure I’m not losing myself" when her characters experiences overlap with her own.