--- title: Taraji P. Henson Shares Powerful Advice for Women description: Taraji P. Henson offered some important advice for women: "If we don't support each other, who will?" canonical: https://time.com/4373381/taraji-p-henson-lucy-award-speech/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-17T18:21:28.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:02:45.111Z og:title: Taraji P. Henson on 'Difficult' Women: 'We're Fighting for What We Deserve' og:description: 'If we don't support each other, who will?' og:url: https://time.com/4373381/taraji-p-henson-lucy-award-speech/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt15c1f759a9f6b1e3/6988985f0b72e3ed016e9da7/taraji-p-henson-women-empowerment-acceptance-speech.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: GQ 20th Anniversary Men Of The Year Party - Arrivals og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Taraji P. Henson on 'Difficult' Women: 'We're Fighting for What We Deserve' twitter:description: 'If we don't support each other, who will?' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt15c1f759a9f6b1e3/6988985f0b72e3ed016e9da7/taraji-p-henson-women-empowerment-acceptance-speech.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Taraji P. Henson on 'Difficult' Women: 'We're Fighting for What We Deserve' by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Jun 17, 2016 6:21 PM UTC  LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 03: Actress Taraji P. Henson attends the GQ 20th Anniversary Men Of The Year Party at Chateau Marmont on December 3, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Mike Windle/Getty Images for GQ Magazine) LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 03: Actress Taraji P. Henson attends the GQ 20th Anniversary Men Of The Year Party at Chateau Marmont on December 3, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Mike Windle/Getty Images for GQ Magazine)Mike Windle—GQ Magazine/Getty Images by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Jun 17, 2016 6:21 PM UTC _Empire_ star and [TIME 100 honoree ](http://time.com/4301243/taraji-p-henson-2016-time-100)Taraji P. Henson shared some powerful words of advice for women at the 2016 Women In Film Crystal + Lucy Awards in Los Angeles on Wednesday, where she received the Lucy Award for Television. As [People reported,](http://www.people.com/article/taraji-henson-adice-to-women) Henson emphasized the importance of empowering women and ensuring they know their worth. She said, “You know, know you have a voice. Know that your voice is important, and fight until it’s heard. That’s what I did.” She singled out her critics with, “‘You will not tell me that I’m not important. You will not tell me.’ So that’s how I build a career. I watched a lot of people eat crow.” [_Follow Motto on Facebook_](https://www.facebook.com/mottoworkplaylive/)_._ Henson also focused on support and camaraderie with fellow [female actresses](http://motto.time.com/4308697/lili-taylor-women-hollywood): “If we don’t support each other, who will? We have a bad rap sometimes in this industry – diva, difficult, catty. When all we’re doing is, in those moments when you call us being difficult, we’re fighting for what we deserve.” Numerous celebrities have spoken out against [Hollywood’s](http://motto.time.com/4199143/catherine-hardwicke-media/) gender, [diversity](http://motto.time.com/4239239/viola-davis-diversity-in-hollywood-oscars), and pay-gap controversies, including Henson: “If I do a job just as well as a man, people tune in every week, they see me, they root for me just like they root for him. Why should my pay be less than his?” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4373381/taraji-p-henson-lucy-award-speech/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4373381/taraji-p-henson-lucy-award-speech/"},"headline":"Taraji P. 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