The film Straw may seem unimpressive at first, as it is set in one place and features only a few characters. However, it is the storyline and writing that have left many people in tears, thanks to the emotional performance of the actress Jeniyah, whom we focus on in this article.
Taraji Penda Henson was born on September 11, 1970, in Washington, D.C., United States. This 54-year-old woman studied at North Carolina A&T State University and also attended Howard University. She began acting in 1982 at the age of 12. To this day, she is still acting and also involved in music. She is a mother of one child and was married to Kelvin Hayden.
Taraji Henson, who became widely known through the film Straw, has been watched by many Rwandan viewers both on Netflix and in locally dubbed film versions. She has received various awards including a Golden Globe Award, an Academy Award nomination, six Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award.In both 2016 and 2024, Time magazine listed Taraji among the top 100 most influential people in the world for her impact on the lives of others, especially those facing difficult circumstances.
After studying film production at Howard University, Taraji released her first film, Streetwise, in 1998. She gained major recognition after starring in Hustle and Flow in 2005, where she played the role of a sex worker. She later gained even more attention in the romantic film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, directed by David Fincher.
In 2001, she acted in Baby Boy. She also played a role in Hidden Figures, which helped her win an Academy Award in the Best Supporting Actress category. She featured in The Karate Kid in 2010, Think Like a Man in 2012, Acrimony in 2018, What Men Want in 2019, The Best of Enemies in 2019, and The Color Purple in 2023. Jeniyah, who rose to fame in Straw, also acted in other films that were broadcast on major TV channels like CBS and FOX. These roles helped her win a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress.
Taraji Penda Henson (also known as Jeniyah) was born to Bernice, who was a manager at Woodward & Lothrop, and Boris Lawrence Henson. When she received major awards like the Academy Award, she was accompanied by her grandmother Patsy Ballard, whom she credited for playing a big role in her success.
Taraji’s names come from the Swahili language: “Taraji” means “hope” and “Penda” means “love.” Her DNA shows that she is descended from the Masa people of Cameroon.She completed high school at Oxon Hill High School in Maryland in 1988. In order to pay her school fees, she worked as a secretary at The Pentagon during the day. In the evenings, she worked in a nightclub as a performer and dancer.
This mother of one also acted in three Tyler Perry films: The Family That Preys (2008), I Can Do Bad All by Myself (2008), and Straw which was released in 2025. She also starred in The Karate Kid, where she acted alongside Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan.In Straw, Jeniyah (or Taraji Penda Henson) played the role of a struggling single mother who had no one to rely on and found herself entangled in legal problems.
The most emotional scene in the film, which made many people cry, is when she goes to the bank to withdraw the money she had worked hard for—but is denied access because she lacks identification. She is also mistaken for a terrorist carrying a weapon and a bomb. The audience learns more about her difficult life journey, and when she loses her child, people begin to realize she was innocent all along. That’s when many viewers were overcome with emotion and began to cry.
