Equality Summit: Changing the Face of Entertainment | Salesforce

I'm Molly Q. Ford. I'm the director of global equality here at Salesforce. And I want to be the first to welcome you to the Dreamforce Equality Summit in partnership with our sponsors, Deloitte. Today, we have an amazing lineup in store for you. We're going to inspire you, we're going to make you cry, we're going to make you laugh, and we're going to have a wonderful day. But one thing about the day is you are going to see people share their story, their journey, amazing stories. But I want to impart on you that we all have a journey. We all have a story, and we should feel inspired to share it. So with that, I'm going to start by sharing my journey. I'm going to share my story and I hope to entertain you along the way. So this is me at the top, right? You know, school picture day. You couldn't tell me anything in my corduroy lavender vest. Don't hate. You wish you had one. You wish you had one. But that's me. And I was a chubby kid and I'm a chubby adult. But I'm okay with it now. Talkative and bossy, but I call it leadership. Y now it's leadershipy, not necessarily bossy. Thank you. Thank you. But what I want you to notice about the photograph is representation. And I noticed from a very early on, early stage in life that I would walk into a room and I'd wonder, who's going to look like me in this room? Who's going to identify with me? Who's going to understand my journey? Will I understand their journey? I wanted to walk in the room and see representation. And that became really important to me, to look on stages, to look in magazines and see people and faces that looked like you, that you felt represented who you are. So as I evolved, elevated. I became a communications professional. And part of that, as a side project, a side job, I would go look for different heroes. She rose to me. People that I could profile and put on stage. I call that people behind the scenes that you may not know. So I was able to work and uncover these stories with some amazing women and amazing leaders here at Salesforce. But this equality summit that you're enjoying today, look at Leah enjoying herself. So this equality summit that you're here for in 2014, this was just an idea on a PowerPoint presentation that sat on my laptop for over a year. It was an idea I had, and I didn't really know where to take it and what to do with it, but Then all of a sudden, I found myself on a train ride. A train ride from Boston to San Francisco with this amazing leader at Salesforce named Leila Seka. And so I had a little time to kill, so I decided, hey, Layla, I've got this plan. You want to hear about it? Can I show you some slides? And what I envision. Stay with me. Take Dreamforce, the world's largest software conference, and spend a day dedicated to showcasing thought leaders, heroes, sheroes, LGBTQ folks, and their allies. And when you look on stage, you see these amazing conversations happening, and then you go, wait, those are all women. Those are people of color, and they would be the thought leaders that you'd enjoy. And so I shared my presentation with Layla, and you guys may have heard our story about equal pay. And Leila Seka and another leader, Cindy Robbins, went to go speak with Marc Benioff, and they asked for an equal pay assessment. Well, they also asked, hey, Mark, what do you think about a women's leadership summit at Dreamforce? And in true Leila seca form, I get a call that says, giddy up. Go make it happen. And we all know that voice that goes, well, not Layla's voice. I'm talking about that inner voice. That inner voice that says, you don't know how to do an event. You got a day job. You can't take that on. There's no budget. How are you going to make this happen? But we all have to suppress that voice, right? Because the next thing you know what was in 2014, a PowerPoint presentation for more than a year became the Women's leadership summit of 2015.

Right?

This women's Leadership Summit, we hosted Patricia Arquette, Jessica Alba, and Susan Wojcicki, who is the most prominent woman in tech in our time. The next thing you know, 2016, we welcomed our new chief equality officer, Tony Profitt. Thank you. Then he gets on stage. We have Billie Jean King in amazing trailblazer and. And the honorable John Lewis, the congressman. And so what was once an idea that sat on my laptop all of a sudden brings us to today. And Salesforce, in partnership with Deloitte, we have an amazing lineup. We started this week with Melody Hobson. Amazing. Melody simply shared our vision. And I sat there and listened to this eloquent, beautiful black woman say, mm, Princeton or Yale, I don't know. And I'm like, wow, those are champagne problems. And then we have an amazing lineup of speakers today. And we're closing out today with an awesome session about education and dreaming. And so what I really want to leave you all with is you hear people's stories today and these stories woven throughout the day. I really want you to focus on figuring out how you too can be an equality trailblazer. Because what I forgot to tell you was that PowerPoint presentation that I shared with Layla, that idea of a women's summit, guess who the keynote speaker was? It was Michelle Obama. Right. And so first I'm going to say you welcome. But more importantly, it was Michelle Obama in 2014, our drafted presentation. So that idea that was sitting on a laptop on all of a sudden became something real. So what I want to impart on you is we all have that manifesto written, that plan. We couldn't sleep that night and we wrote or most of you have an idea that's on a post it note next to your password on your computer. So when you take that off, dust that off and make that a reality. Because this journey to equality, it includes all of us. It includes all of us telling our stories. And I want you to know that together we're going to make a more equitable future and we're going to have fun on this journey. So to kick off today, I'm so excited. Yes. We have an amazing lineup of speakers this morning. Michelle Norris, she has an awesome project called the Race Card. I encourage you to check it out. It's really thought provoking. It's really something that'll make you think she'll be joined on stage. Author, producer, Academy Award nominee, an actress that comes into our homes every week. And we're more excited about what Cookie Lions is going to say versus what she's going to wear. So thank you for coming to the DreamForce Equality Summit 2017. I hope you enjoy the day. Ladies and gentlemen, Taraji P. Henson and Michelle Norris. Thank you.

Hi, beautiful. How are you? Okay. Hello.

Good morning, everyone. And thank you, Molly, for that lovely introduction and for sharing your story because you have set the stage to hear. I almost called you Cookie to hear.

Taraji say, I'm only Cookie on the weekdays on set.

Well, you were Cookie last night, so, yeah. It's so good to be with you this morning. Thank you so much for telling your story, for being with us, and thank you for using your voice because you have always used your voice to lift up not just your own story, but to create a voice for women throughout Hollywood. It's one of the things I have always so deeply admired about you is that you're always looking over your shoulder. Who's coming with me?

Yes.

Who am I going to open a door for. So I want to talk a little bit about your career, about your roles, about the hidden figures that you have uncovered through your work, and about the hidden figures that all of you might want to try to think about in your own world and in your own audiences. But let's begin where it began for you. You're from Washington, D.C. yes.

Yes.

And you went to Howard University. I did Oxon Hill High School. And I've had the pleasure of interviewing you before, and you said that you dip into your own story when you tell the story of other people.

That I did what?

Dip into your own story that you were surrounded by so many strong women yourself. Can you talk a little bit about your mother? She had four sisters, is that correct?

Five. It was five of them, yeah. It's eight. Eight. Six siblings, three boys, five girls. One we lost last year. My aunt, she rest in peace.

And your grandmother?

My grandmother's still alive. She's 93. She still drives and cooks. So my strength starts with her. You know, people always go, oh, you look so young. Well, you should meet my grandmother. She still gets her nails done. She drives herself to visit her sister, and she drives herself to get her hair appointment every week. She cooks. She lives by herself, but she's very independent. And she always goes, you know, baby, I don't know. I might not be here next year. I was like, grandma, you ain't going nowhere. She raised eight children. Nine, really. One wasn't hers. And she was married faithfully to my grandfather for 61 years before he passed away. And I love to say to her, yeah, clap about that. That doesn't happen. But what I love to say to my grandmother is that, you know, now, God given you a time to live for you and do the things that you couldn't do because you was a dedicated mother and wife. And she has. I've taken her to the Emmys twice. She's been to the biggest show in the world, the Oscars.

She was your date that night?

She was my date. Her and my mother. And she's coming to witness me get my Hollywood Walk of Fame, my star, my Hollywood Walk of Fame.

So when is that happening?

Sometime next year, year eight, 2000.

Because, you know, you're active on Instagram. We have to make sure that we follow.

Oh, I let everybody.

And we cheer on Instagram and on, as my mother calls it, the Twitter.

Yes.

Grandma knows how to FaceTime, too, and she works on. She does Marco Polo. She'll make an appearance on Marco Polo every now and again. That's how our family keeps in touch.

She does Marco Polo.

We just got her WI Fi so she could do FaceTime.

So you are a trailblazer in the truest sense.

Yeah, I hope so.

Whether you're playing Cookie or Katherine Johnson or Shug or Yvette or Biella in all of your films.

You know all of them.

I do, I do.

I have.

And it wasn't just because I looked at IMDb I've been following you for a long time. Or Queenie in the Curious Life of Benjamin Button. You have, as I said, used your voice to lift up people. You use your voice to make sure that the storylines that are covered in the TV shows and in the movies reflect the lives of women. And I don't know if you all know this, but 23 million people watch you every week on Empire.

I hope so.

And every show generates almost 400,000 tweets. So you're in the middle of this big and robust and yeasty conversation. But you've always used your life and your roles as. As a trailblazer. And this conference is called Dreamforce because they want people to think about their dreams and how you support your dreams. If you can dream it, you can achieve it. And throughout your life, you've had people who have supported you, but you've also had people who've tried to tell you that you can't do certain things.

Those are my favorite people.

They're your favorite people.

That's my ammunition.

Okay, say more.

I mean, I love when people doubt me. I had to. I'm still fighting. I'm still trying to prove that, you know, women can do the same things that men can do in this industry. You know, I just turned 47 this year, and, You know, I'm so sick of. In this industry, when women become a certain age, it's like, oh, she's too old. But when you're a man, you can shoot, you can be a superhero. You can have a fat gut, a receding hairline, crooked teeth. It doesn't matter. But when it comes to us, we have to be picture perfect, and we have to be the right age. Well, what is that? You know? What is the right age? I don't know what that is.

The right age is the age that you are.

Right, right, Exactly. That's how I see life. That's why I don't. That's why I've never been ashamed of saying my age, because I think we need that representation as women. You know, we're so busy going, oh, that don't ask me my age. You ask me my age, I made it 47 years. And guess what? Some people didn't, you know, so be proud of that. But at the right young age of 47, I took on my first action role. Proud Mary. It comes out. And so we just recently had to do reshoots. And it's all about changing the narrative. Once we change the narrative, then I won't look like a unicorn. So now, you know, you have these people around the monitors. And I'm doing role. I'm doing literally my stunts, my own stunts, you know, the ones that they felt safe with me doing and which.

Was pretty much all of them.

But you know, I hear them around the monitor. Oh, can you believe she's 47? Oh my God. Change it to a man. Would they be saying that?

No. No.

So why is it that I'm a unicorn? If I can move, jump, cartwheel, backflip, why can't I have the part? What does age have to do with performance? So we about to crack the ceiling open with this one. And so that has been my mission because I've had to fight so much. And I'm still fighting, still proving that I'm box office worthy, pay me my money up front, you know, so it's always a fight. But I understand that. So I don't expect it to be easy. I wake up every day ready for the fight, right? So I'm waiting to meet the naysayers. I can't wait to prove you wrong.

And that started early because when you were at Howard, you had your son while you were in college. And some of you said, well, that, you know, maybe you should.

They thought I was over stepping away. That's it.

And you graduated. You carried him on your hip.

Not only did I graduate, I didn't miss a beat. I mean, I literally spit him out. I think I stressed him out because I had like this 75 page paper due the night before I went into labor. And I literally was in having labor pains as I was dropping off my projects and went to the hospital, had him. Then I started, I worked with, After I spit him out, I healed about two weeks. And then I was in the hood working with at risk students, teaching them arts, teaching them how to believe in themselves through art and poetry, find self esteem. You know, here I am, a single mother, barely making it. But that's my mission in life. Like I feel like God put us all here to figure it out. He made us all look different. He made us all come from different backgrounds. So that it wouldn't be easy so that we could figure it out. And we better damn well figure it out, because it's not looking real good right now. But it's up to us. It's up to us. We hold the power. We hold the power, you know? So that's. That's always been my mission in life. How can I help? Because I feel like that's what God put us here for. I. He didn't set me up for all of this success, for me to keep it to myself. That's selfish. Who am I going. Whose life am I going to change?

And when you went to Hollywood, you were 25, is that correct?

26.

26. And then, even then, people were saying, well, in Hollywood, you gotta pop it before you gotta. You know.

Oh, yeah, they told me you gotta.

Develop a marquee name.

If you don't pop before 25, then you don't have a career. So you're telling me I'm not gonna make it before I even try? Like, no, get out of here. I just never. I always danced to my own drum beat. I just. I was never afraid to take risks. I was just never afraid. I don't know. I guess a lot of people say, coming from D.C. i know. Have you ever been to Washington, D.C? it's a feeling there. I mean, when I was growing up, there was this feeling that everybody was a star, I guess, because we have our. I can't. I'm trying to make you understand where it could possibly come from. I think most of it comes from my parents. My dad telling me that I was the best thing in life. He didn't teach me conceit, but he taught me to believe in myself no matter what. So if you believe in yourself, you don't care. I really never cared about what other people thought.

Well, you know, in D.C. also, D.C. people know, official D.C. you know, D.C. you know, the D.C. of the monuments and the people who make laws. But outside of D.C. culture, there's this culture. And part of. And Go Go culture had a lot to do with that. Go, Go.

We have our own music. We have our.

If you don't know, Go, Go. We're going to take you to school for a minute. You need to understand.

Go, Go.

It's this music that has a special kind of syncopation.

That's where I was going.

And it was something that grew out of indigenous soil. They made it themselves and they made their own path.

Exactly.

And there are so many people that I've interviewed over years who come from D.C. who said that if Chuck Brown can create his own path. Path. You know, coming out of jail, creating music, becoming an international superstar, not because a studio tapped him on his shoulder, but because he designed his own sound.

His own sound.

That influenced you too.

Then he influenced the babies coming up, the boys banging on buckets on the corner. That started Backyard band.

I know some of you are out there Googling, go Google it.

But I'm telling you, that is where it comes from. That's where, you know, I'm a superstar. Like, I grew up watching boys bang on buckets. Become something. You know what I mean? And so if I can see you do that, then how come I can't believe in my dreams I grew up in this culture? So it was an invincible culture. I mean, sometimes people in dc, they would be. They go, denzel. So like, I mean, literally, that's the mentality. Because a lot of the people in D.C. believe they're superstars, you know, so I come from that culture. I come from that. That, you know, you can. You know. We had D.C. our mayor, Mayor Marion Berry. Yes. Kept me out of the streets. He implemented a program called the Summer School. What was it? There it is. DC Summer Youth Work Program. Right. So in the.

Thank you, my sister.

Well, anyway. Well, what it is, is you had a job in the summertime, so you wasn't out in the street street doing things you didn't have. Every young person had a job. If you wanted a job, you could go get a job. Government, any field you wanted. I. They had one for the arts. We used to do shows in the streets. I mean, you know, we did everything for the art.

So that's.

I grew up in a culture when people cared about the youth.

So I want to ask you about two roles in particular, and they're recent. Cookie on Empire and Katherine Johnson and Hidden Figures.

Total opposites.

And total opposites. But not really, because in some ways they're women who have to fight to make sure that people recognize their worth and understand what they have to author. So I want to ask about Katherine Johnson first. How did that role come to you? Did you know that they were going to be casting for this role? Did you fight for that?

No, I wanted a job I didn't have to fight for. Theodore Melfi, our director, he wanted to work with me on another project called St. Vincent. Didn't happen.

The Bill Murray.

Bill Murray. And what's her name, the funny actress? Melissa. Melissa McCarthy McCarthy. So I supposed to be in that. And it didn't work. They ended up Going, they didn't want to cast the character black. Oh, it happens all the time. Happens all the time. No, it was my win. So it didn't.

Because when it's right, it's right on time.

Because that didn't work out for a reason. And when Theodore Melfi Ted, our director, was pissed because he wrote that role for me. He chased me for two years. And, you know, if you're an artist and you finally get there. And I said, yes. And then politics killed his dream. Oh, he was mad about it. So then when he got hidden figures, he told the studio, I'm doing this movie with Taraji P. Henson, period. So that's how I got it. He called me, and I just remember. Thank you. I just remember reading the script, and I was like, is this real? Did this really happen? This is a great fiction. I like it. And he was like, no, this is actual facts. And I was like. Then I got mad because I was like, well, people lied to me all my life and told me that math and science was for boys. I never. I always remember in thinking back in school, you know, when you got older, you could pick your seat. I remember specifically math and science classes. I would always sit in the back because there was this universal understanding. No one ever said it to me, but it was an understanding that math and science is for boys. That's not for girls. So I had a low. I had a low expectation of myself when it came to math and science. I would just sit in the back of the room. But imagine if I knew these women existed.

You know, when I saw that film. You and I have something in common. We both studied electrical engineering in college.

Yes.

And changed our majors. And I think it worked out fine.

For both of us.

I'm not sure, but I would have made a fine electrical engineer because I was. I was struggling myself. I'm not going to speak for you, but I have.

I need to explain that I'm not mathematically wired. And how I. How I got into that was I didn't get accepted into the School of Fine Arts, the High School of Fine Arts. And when you're so young, that kind of rejection you can't process. You just think I suck. And I literally thought that. So I was. Just went to a regular high school, and I had a very smart. She was really intelligent, and she wanted to go off to school for, you know, science and computers. And I was like, well, we hang out. I'll do what you're doing. So we enrolled at North Carolina A and T, and I Failed. For the first time in my life, I got an F. Okay? And I never. Yeah, I've tried to fail classes. Cause I was a class clown, trying to be cool. Didn't fail. Cause I couldn't. I was smarter than that, you know. And for some reason that F was just like, I'm a failure. What is. And I called my dad crying and he was like, I told you you're not supposed to be going to school for no math or no science. You a actor. So being the great father that he was, may he rest in peace, he never forced his views and opinions on me. He just let me fall on my face on my own. So I needed that to happen. Because when I went. When I enrolled back at. When I went to Howard University.

And.

I enrolled and I went for my dreams. I auditioned for the School of Fine Arts. And I remember my knees shaking and being afraid of that rejection again. And I remember Dr. Henry Edmonds, she's passed to rest in peace. She auditioned me. She was the teacher of acting. And I remember her looking over her glasses, she said, young lady, what's your name? And I'm shaking my voice. I was like, taraji Henson. And she was like, you got something? She said, and I'm going to tell you this, a lot of your friends you gonna hang out with and people you gonna meet in this department won't last. She said, but you got something. And I'm looking at her and that's all I needed. And I became a student of the arts. I never went to homecoming because you gotta understand, that was a dream that I thought I didn't have anymore. And it came back to me. So it was like a second chance in life and I wasn't gonna fuck it up. So yeah. So people to this day, they go, do you know so and so at Howard? So and so they think, cause you went to a hbcu, you know every person that went there, and I'm like, chances are if they weren't in the School of Fine Arts, I don't know them. Cause I was like this head. I never. My life revolved around the arts. I never stepped outside of that building unless it was go to the library to pick up a play or something. I was just immerse in the arts. I just never wanted to be rejected again.

I mentioned Katherine Johnson in electrical engineering though. Because when I saw the film, I wondered, had I known the story, if I had read Margot Lee Chatterley's book, might I have seen. Oh, wait a minute. Women do this kind of work.

You would have had different things. I would have.

You know, and that's why I was so. I wanted to make sure young people. We arranged in Washington for a group of young girls to go see the film. Because I want.

We pay for theaters, all the cast. We all pay for theaters in different, you know, urban cities that really needed it. We knew where parents couldn't afford to take their kids to theaters.

But I wonder if people in the Valley need to see that film also. Yeah. And understand the message.

Oh, absolutely.

Because in a place like this, where women are in the distinct minority and when we talk about equality as something that we're all still struggling with, there are probably Katherine Johnsons in all kinds of organizations.

Absolutely.

Who are not able to shine as brightly as they can because they don't fit a mold or because people don't necessarily see them as management material or they don't see them as, you know, that's not what a coder looks like.

Yeah, it's changing the narrative. It's changing the narrative. Just like in my industry, you know, they like to say black movie. This black. This black. Well, when you say that, stop saying that. Because when you say that, you make people who aren't black go, oh, well, that's not for me. Because it's a black movie. Who says on the weekends, when you have time, hey, this weekend I'm gonna go see a white movie. No, you know what? I had some Chinese food last night. I think I'm gonna see me an Asian movie. Like, who does that? Right? I'm gonna see a black movie. They got this real good black movie. Girl, you wanna go see this black movie with me? You see the trailer. It either interests you or it does not. Right. So why, when it comes to us, why is it called black? I hate that.

So when you do work, you wanna make sure that it reaches the broadest.

It's a movie. It's a movie that just happened to have some black folks in it. But it's good, you know, And I think that's what's happening, like with Empire. Like, I knew it was gonna be a hit domestically. Didn't see the international success. But that's my point. No one cared about black overseas. They just saw a family that they identified with. It had nothing to do with black. When I saw the headlines and they had that big fur. I don't wear fur. But, you know, they put it on me. They Photoshopped it on. And Russia, me and Lucius, none of the headlines said black. They just identified with these characters and that's how it should be. But it's us that put these labels and titles on things. Why don't we do that? Like, I'm sick of labels. Aren't we all human? Can we just leave it at that?

So I understand that when they approached you about playing the role of Cookie, that you were.

I didn't want to do it.

Why?

Because I was. I just didn't want to do it. I was. She scared me. I was like, she just. She calls her son the F bomb, and she beats one with a broom. I don't know if America's going to be able to take this, but for me, that's how I choose projects. If I'm not afraid, if it doesn't scare the hell out of me, then I don't need to do it. She scared me. So then that made me intrigued.

She scared you because you were afraid.

The audience would react badly or because.

You had to let that person inside you.

I thought the people was going to come after me. Naacp. I was like, oh, Lord, they're going to come down on me. They're going to say, why did you take this role playing this loudmouth woman? But then I shut the fear up. You know, you gotta do that to fear. You gotta tell that devil, go sit down somewhere. Get out of my head. You are nothing. You mean nothing. Stay under my feet. So then I got into the story, and then I started pulling her apart. And I said, this woman is something else. And I started saying things that even the writers didn't see. Like, I grew up in the hood, right? I remember when crack was dropped off in the hood, right? I remember families being torn apart. I was in a broken home. By the end of the first year, crack hit the hood. I was seeing kids who came from a house with both parents destroyed. They're knocking on my door, asking me for T shirts because they can't find their parents. You understand what I'm saying? So I understand the. When you play a character like Cookie, somebody who's so over the top, you have to handle that character with care. Because if you don't play her right on, she becomes a caricature. So then once I understood her, I was like, well, then I have to play her. Because not saying that any other actress couldn't do it, I just felt like it landed in my lap. It was my duty to bring her to life because I felt like I could do it in a way that people will not judge her, but they will empathize with her. So let me play her. Need Let me play what her struggle is. Her struggle at the time was to keep her three boys from being statistics. Right? And if that meant I take the fall for my family, then that's what I'll do. I'm not condoning that she and Lucia sold drugs. But if anybody is in here from the hood, when you ain't got no way, and that's your only way. And I'm still not condoning it. But when you give me an option, work at McDonald's for $3 an hour, or you can do this, and you can make $1,000 a week and feed your family, when your back is up against the wall, you make choices sometimes that aren't so conventional. But where I respected her is she chose to go to jail for her family. She did that. The writers didn't even catch it. I said, you got to understand the mind of a mother. This woman will give her life to keep her boys from being statistics. Three black boys from the hood not gonna go to jail. They not gonna sell drugs like me and their father did. They got caught. She took the fall. So why didn't Lucius.

The writers didn't even notice that side of the storyline. They didn't see it.

They didn't see it. I took it to Lee. I said, isn't this interesting? Why didn't Lucious go to jail? They were both dirty. They were both outside counting the money. They were both selling the drugs and moving it. She chose to go to jail because Lucious had the talent. If the father of her boys went to jail.

Yeah.

How was she gonna feed her family? She didn't have the talent and the role model.

Having a male role model there in the house.

So she chose to go to jail. That's a strong woman right there. So I decided to play that. And every decision she makes come from that. And then what? The people got it. They understood. They understood her struggle, her passion. That's something you can get behind, but you can't get behind. Just some loud mouth, sassy woman nobody care about. That's just noise. But it has to come from somewhere.

But that noise is so wonderful.

It is.

You know why?

Because it comes from somewhere. It's just not a loud, sassy. And see, that's what I thought. I was like, oh, she's just a loud, sassy black woman. Oh, God, I can't. But I found the humanity in her. And that's your job as an actor.

How much of that is improvised? How much do you bring to that? And how open was Lee to letting you do what you needed to do to stay in the role and to make the role your own.

They let me do what I have to do, because what I'm not gonna do, this is how my brain works. If I'm not passionate about it, if I don't believe in it, I can't say it, I can't speak on it, I can't put my name on it. That's how I'm wired. I'm a very passionate person, and I don't do deals unless I can get behind it. I don't care about your money. I'm gonna make money. I don't sell out to money. I have a conscience that deals with me, you know? So if it don't feel right, if it ain't right, I can't say it. And they know that about me. We just had an issue. I had to fight them so hard on trying to make this yo yo with Cookie and Lucious. They make it a yo yo. And it's like, I'm standing up for women here. I'm standing up for women who have been hurt by men who have had enough and say, you know what? You hurt my heart. You don't protect it. So I'm going to protect it. And even in this relationship with Cookie and Lucious, and as much as they love each other, at some point she has to stand up and say, you can't do this to my heart no more, man. You know? And so that's the fight I'm having with the writer. They get it now. You know what I mean? But I have to stand up for that, because if I let them write it, she'll just be. Every time he say, jump how high, Lucious? Where you want me to be? Well, you was just sleeping with Boo Boo Kitty. Y' all really gotta know that. Whenever I take a role, I'm fighting for the truth, and I drag out fights. I tell studio to call me. Like, I'm not. So we had this thing the other day, and my executive, I said, you tell the writers this? She told them, and they said, okay, say what you want to say, because I know, you know, the writers. I love them. They're very talented. I'm not taking. We have some incredible writers, but they don't live with Cookie the way I do. I live with Cookie and only Cookie. I've been living with her for four years now. There is nothing those writers can tell me about her. Not unless they have something in the back that they never put into the story. Okay, well, if it ain't Gonna make sense of what we already created. Then we gonna have a problem.

Is it useful to have Cookie in your arsenal? And I'm asking you as an actress, because now they've seen who Cookie is and what she can do. But for all of us, is it good to have that aspect of your personality that you reveal every so often?

You need a fighter in you. And I think that's why people are drawn to Cookie, because she says the things people wish they were strong enough or bold enough to say. She does the things like, you know, you've been in a meeting and somebody just pissed you off. You want to hit that person, but you can't. So knock the chair over like Cookie does. She'll just walk out and knock the chair over. Take that, you know. So I think it's those things that people are really drawn to because, you know, you want to say the things that Cookie says in those boardroom meetings, but you can't. I've had grown men tweet me. God, I wish I had the balls to walk into my board meeting like Cookie this morning. So it's not even just a female thing. It's a spirit. Everybody needs that Cookie spirit. You gotta fight for yourself in this world.

But Cookie also has softer notes, and those are some of the things I notice. I mean, how many Ask the room, because you have all sat in meetings, and how many times have you been in a meeting where someone. Sometimes she's female, sometimes it's just someone who is quiet, who is a bit retiring in their personality, says something, and everyone just plows right past what they're going to say, and then someone else in the meeting says the exact same thing. I mean, the exact same thing. And everyone responds very differently. And there was an episode where Cookie, someone said something, and they were about to shut it down, and she said, no, no, no, we're gonna listen to what she has to say. Putting that in an entertainment realm where everyone can see that is powerful because you recognize, whoa, that just happened. Did I do that? Did that happen to me? There's value in that.

Absolutely. Well, you know, art imitates life. And so we really try to give you real life scenarios to identify with. Even though we know it's acting and it's tv, but it's something that'll spark. You know what? Maybe I'll handle this different tomorrow. That's what art does. It forces you to think it should.

Anyway, what is the lessons for people in this room and in this industry and in all the industries that are represented by the various clients that. Whose tentacles are connected to this behemoth called Salesforce. What are the lessons that they can take from people like Cookie and Katherine Johnson, who had to really push their way in that scene where Katherine Johnson is asking to go in the meeting because she knows that they will not be able to do those calculations without her in the meeting. She has to gently and then finally just say, I need to be in that meeting. But on the other side also, the lessons for the people who are the gatekeepers, because the Kevin Costner character in there saw that they were never going to shine as brightly as they could. They were never going to be as productive. They were not going to win the space race unless they used all the resources.

Absolutely.

At their disposal.

Absolutely. I mean, that's a lesson in life, in my opinion. No one's going to give you anything. I think we're all adults, you know, everything you've gotten in your life so far, you had to fight and work for. Right? No one is going. I tell my son this all the time. You can't sit on the sofa praying for a turkey. You can believe in God all you want to, but the turkey is not going to gobble, gobble and knock on the door and jump on the table. You can pray to God all you want to. You going to have to get up, go out and hunt for that turkey, look for you going do some kind of work, you know, and so. And it's not going to be easy, you know, don't expect it to be easy. I never wake up thinking, oh, today is going to be easy. I'm still dreaming. I'm still asleep.

Right?

So you have to fight now. Some people fight loud, Cookie, and some people are quiet fighters. I don't care how you fight. Fight until your voice is heard. You have a voice. If you did not have a voice, you wouldn't be here. If the universe did not need you, trust me, you wouldn't be here. You see stuff happening every day, people blowing up. And I just watched something on Instagram over in Asia where some man on a bus, a loaded crowded bus, ran up to the front where the driver was, took the steering wheel and crashed the bus. Do you understand how if you weren't supposed to be here, you wouldn't. So the fact that you are here, don't waste a second of your breath. Fight until your voice is heard, because we need it. I don't give up until you hear my voice.

So let's talk about the quest for equality in Hollywood, because the entertainment industry Is going through quite a moment right now, particularly with the MeToo, with the fallout from the various allegations. And I'm wondering if this will be a wake up call in the industry where women will perform, perhaps have more opportunities to serve as gatekeepers, more opportunities to sit in rooms where decisions are made. Is this a I see it happening, it is happening line of demarcation? Is it starting to happen?

It is happening. It's happening because the narratives are changing. One of the heads of Fox is a woman, Dana Walden. All the women who made Hidden Figures, do you know how many women made that move? Women greenlit that film. Not men, women. So we're there and you're starting to see a change. I mean, I see it. I've never been the type to go, whoa, is me. This industry is so hard on me. If I say that that's exactly what the industry's going to be. I've never made. That's never. You read all of my interviews now. Have they always given me the roles that I deserve? No. Maybe I wasn't ready. So that's on me. I wasn't ready. Timing is everything. Patience. The question is, did they give me the money I deserve? Now that there is the question. You know, I never thought it's bad for black women because if I think that that's how it's going to be, I didn't ever. I woke up every day and said, how can I change this? How can I change this? And because that's how I moved in this industry. I always worked. I don't compare myself to people. I see somebody get, girl, you better go, girl. You know why? Because I'm gonna get there one day. You know, I never try to take shine from anybody or hate on anybody. I've always felt that there was enough work for all of us from day one. And I. I always said to myself, you know, Taraji, your season will come. Just be patient. Just be patient. And what I asked for, I was very clear when I had my talk with God, I wanted longevity. So when you say longevity, that overnight success ain't gonna. That's a myth, first of all. That's a myth. So if you wanna stay around for the long haul, it's gonna take a long journey to get there, you know, and there gonna be bumps in a row. But then there's stuff to talk about. That's why y' all won't talk to me. Cause I have a story? No, because I have a story to tell. If it was so easy, y' all would be bored how are you gonna change a life if your life was so easy? That's not helping anybody. Cause it's hard out here.

So when you take on a role, do you ask or do you try to make sure that there are roles for women outside of. Beyond being in front of the camera? Do you try to make sure that they're working behind the scenes, that doors open? I mean, do you feel like now you have the power to make that kind of decision? So I'm gonna walk through this door, and I want to make sure that I carry this many people with me.

Absolutely. I do it all the time. I can't. I mean, I don't like to say what I've done to help people, because that's like, hey, look at me. I did this. Like.

But sometimes you have to say it so people understand it can be done and how it can be done.

Okay, so let. There's this thing with the unions. You know, they always say it's hard to get makeup artists in the union, especially makeup artists of color. Cause blah, blah, blah. Every job I get, I hire a new makeup. Well, up until I've got my makeup artist, Ashunta Sharif, she's been with me forever. I would always try to get somebody a job that I knew or in the union. My first job, my first movie ever, Baby Boy, and I was a nobody, y'. All. But I didn't care. This woman wasn't in the union, and she deserved to be in the union. She was good, and I saw the politics behind it. I said, how do I get her in the union? She should be on this set doing my makeup, because she's that good. And they said, well, she has to be a star request. I said, looked at this. I said, I'm number two. That makes me a star, right? I'm requesting her make it happen. So any way that I can. I'm always trying. It's a female on the job now. She's a pa. She's worked her ass off. She should be an assistant director. I went to the producer. I said, we gonna have a problem if I don't see her get moved up the ladder. Like, I saw that young man last year, you know, we gonna have a problem. She said, on it, you know, And I just do things like that because I feel like God put me. And my father always said, if you are blessed, you have to be a blessing. And he left me with that. And that's how I operate. I don't know how to operate no other way. I'm always that's a badass way to.

Begin a conversation, because if you walk into your boss's office and say, we're gonna have a problem if such and such and such doesn't happen. So you might want to think of a few other notes in that octave that you can strike.

Well, I mean, you know, you have to pick your battles smartly. Don't say the words that I say. But, you know, I know. I know the weight that I carry, you know, And I know that you need me. So if you want to make me happy, I'm not asking for caviar to be put in my trailer.

Right?

I'm trying to help somebody get a job and help them feed their family and help them make their dreams come.

True, which is gonna make the production better and everybody else.

How about that?

So who mentored you?

Who mentors me?

Who mentored when you were getting in the business? Are there people that were really supportive of you as you were finding your footing?

It was my family. My dad. I always would call him and be like, dad, I don't know. He'd be like, baby, hold on. Just hold on. God, got something so good coming your way. He said, I swear to you, when that. When that sun come out, baby, you. Your shade's not gonna be able to protect you. And it's almost like he was seeing what is happening now, and he's not even here.

I'm sorry.

You know he sees you. I was gonna say.

I know, I know, I know, I know.

I know he sees you.

I just had a moment, but it's okay. It's all right.

It's okay.

It's okay.

The reason why I'm bringing that up, if you're a parent in here, I don't care if your kid says they like basket weaving. Get behind them. No, seriously, look at Martha Stewart. Don't laugh. Get behind them. Because my father, he sowed seeds in me. He spoke these things into me, and if I didn't believe them, I believed every word he said to me. And that is why I'm here. So that is who mentored me. My dad. You are the best. You gonna win an Oscar for this. You gonna win an Oscar for that. And the year I sang it, the Oscars, he died. So just sow good seeds into your family, your friends. If you see a friend and they have a dream, help them with it. Because you never know, you might be helping the next Steve Jobs, the next Katherine Johnson. You don't know what good energy you're feeding that person. You know, just that's just how I am. When I see somebody on Instagram and I see them. You have no idea how many small businesses I support on Instagram just because I respect their hustle, you know? I'm gonna tell you 1. Muir Swag M U U R S W A G this young lady and her husband, they do these amazing dashikis, and she's branched off. She does wigs now. I mean, it's small or whatever, but it's not. And I really support her. I don't know this woman. I've never met her in my life. I just admire her struggle, and I want to do whatever I can to help her win, because I see she works hard. I love a person's. I love when people are passionate about something. You are passionate. Makes me passionate about. I don't even know what you making. Snickerdoodles. I ain't never made you passionate. Let me help you. What, you need a chat? Let's help get these snickerdoodles. It's gonna be the best snickerdoodles ever. I don't even know what is a snickerdoodle, you know?

Well, that's why so many good things go to you, because you put so many good things out into the world.

Yeah. I think that's just how it works.

They call it karma, you know, and that's the way it works.

That's how it works.

The last thing I want you to leave us with is a little bit of wisdom around this issue of equality.

Yes.

And diversity and how we make the world a more equitable place. And I'm wondering if we need new words. I don't know if you follow Tannerie Bedougue on Twitter or Instagram, but she is a writer and a professor, and she works primarily in science fiction. And she tweeted something the other day that really stuck with me. She said, you know, I'm tired of this word diversity. When it comes to Hollywood in particular, she says, maybe we should just say reality. Like, let's create shows that reflect the world that we all live in, as you say, where people look all kinds of different ways. So do we need to think about sort of new words so that people take this perhaps to heart in a slightly different way?

I think if we just stop putting labels on things and just, you know, stop talking about it so much, you know what I mean? And just do it, you know, I make sure whatever project I do, I just make sure it's even. I make sure it looks like how it looks in this room. I mean, how it looks in the world, you know, I don't do shows and I'm trying to get as many walks of life as I can, you know, well, why does that character have to be that race? Why does it have to be a girl? You know, start thinking outside the box. So any project I get, that's how I'm thinking. Prime example I do. This is my third year producing White Hot Holidays for Fox. And it's something that's a passion of mine because I remember growing up watching Variety television show. You know, Carol Burnett. Oh, my God. I would be in front of TV rock, and my mother be like, yo, daddy ain't made a glass. Get out of the way. But we don't have really family TV anymore. So I was like, that has to change. You know, we have to have more to watch than the Kardashians. No dig to them. Get your money. But there has to be something else more to watch on television. So I went to a producing buddy of mine and I said, hey, let's create this show. We want music and we want variety skits, and we're going to do like a Carol Burnett during Christmas. That's what we'll do. And Fox bought it. But I noticed for the first two seasons, every artist was black. And I was like, it's not really what I'm going for here. People like, Christmas ain't black. This ain't the Black Christmas special. This is Christmas. Everybody celebrates Christmas, you know. So then it became my mission to diversify the show. You know, Ariana Grande, girl, can you come? You know, Gaga, what you doing, girl? You know, it's like, come on, this is music, this is art. It should represent every walk of life. So I'm just telling y', all, it's always a fight.

But it's always worth it.

It's always worth it. No, it is.

You miss all the shots you don't take. So you have to stay in the game.

Yes. I'm not going anywhere.

Oh, we know that. And we're so glad you joined us today to tell your story. Thank you so much.

Thank you for having me.

Blessings continue for Raindown.