Biographie

Henson first attended North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, where she attempted to study electrical engineering. She failed precalculus, so she transferred to Howard University. To pay for Howard, she worked two jobs: in the morning, as a secretary at the Pentagon; at night, as a singing and dancing waitress on a dinner cruise ship. She graduated from Howard University in 1995.

Taraji's great-great-grandfather, Joseph Henson, was a half-brother of North Pole explorer Matthew Henson. Matthew was a prominent African-American explorer.

Has a son: Marcell Johnson (b. May 10, 1994) with ex-boyfriend, William Johnson.

Dated William Johnson from February 1987 to November 1994.

Claimed in an interview with Uptown magazine that her son Marcel Johnson was racially profiled when his car was stopped by police in Glendale and that police searched his car illegally. However, the dashcam video of the incident revealed that Johnson drove through a lighted crosswalk as a person walked across and that he was in possession of marijuana and other drug paraphernalia, which a police officer found after smelling marijuana smoke in the car and Johnson consented and allowed the officer to search his car. After the video surfaced, she apologized via Instagram for her statements. She was apparently misinformed about the incident by her son.

Once you're a mom, always a mom. It's like riding a bike, you never forget.

Every human walks around with a certain kind of sadness. They may not wear it on their sleeves, but it's there if you look deep.

Humans have a light side and a dark side, and it's up to us to choose which way we're going to live our lives. Even if you start out on the dark side, it doesn't mean you have to continue your journey that way. You always have time to turn it around.

At the end of the day, I stand by who I am. I'm a good person.

Love is the greatest gift that God has given us. It's free.