Taraji had a young son and onlty $700 in her pocket when she moved to LA. This is how she made it to the Hollywood Walk of Fame
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😹
FunTranscript
00:00 This is really surreal. I keep... I keep...
00:04 [cheers]
00:10 I keep looking at that star going, "Is this real?"
00:14 I'm a mom. I have a son.
00:17 When I set out on this journey, I said I'll never give up
00:20 because if I give up, what am I teaching my son?
00:23 [music]
00:33 I have to fight the good fight because people are telling me,
00:37 "I can't. You can't do this. You can't. Are you crazy?
00:40 You're moving to California with your son? You'll never make it."
00:43 I was 26 when I decided to come here.
00:46 There's the age thing. "Oh, you're too old."
00:49 If you listen to people,
00:54 and if you allow people to project their fears onto you,
00:58 you won't live.
01:01 But I just remember when I moved out here, and I had my son.
01:04 He was just only one.
01:06 And I said to... I just made a promise to him, and I just said,
01:09 "I'm never going to give up. Things are going to be hard."
01:12 He don't even remember the hard days. He remembers the house with the pool.
01:16 But I just made a promise to him.
01:19 And when you love that deep and you make promises,
01:22 you have to keep them.
01:26 [music]
01:29 [music]
01:32 [music]
01:35 [music]
01:38 [music]
01:41 [music]
01:45 [music]
01:49 [music]
01:53 [music]
01:56 [music]
02:00 [music]
02:04 [music]
02:08 [music]
02:12 [music]
02:16 [music]
02:20 Mom, I remember one time I walked in on you crying over bills.
02:25 And I made a promise to you, and I said, "Mom, don't you cry no more.
02:28 I'm going to be rich one day, and I'm going to be famous,
02:31 and I'm going to take care of you."
02:34 So I had a lot to live up to, because, you know, I said it, so I had to do it.
02:38 [music]
02:41 [music]
02:44 [music]
02:47 [music]
02:50 And every day as a human, you have a choice.
02:53 You wake up, and you say, "Which side am I going to choose to be on today?"
02:58 It's a battle every day.
03:01 And you either choose fear or you choose faith,
03:04 because the job is not going to come to you.
03:07 The blessing is not going to knock on the door.
03:10 You have to choose a side, and you have to walk that path when you leave your house.
03:13 I just choose every day. Some days it's harder than others.
03:17 But I just constantly choose faith.
03:19 And whatever scares me, faith will clear out the fears, because it can't coexist.
03:26 [music]
03:29 [music]
03:32 [music]
03:35 [music]
03:38 [music]
03:41 [music]
03:44 [music]
03:47 [music]
03:50 [music]
03:53 [music]
03:56 What if I believed those people who told me that when I became pregnant in college that I wouldn't finish?
04:02 I walked across that stage with my son on my hip, and I collected my degree, my diploma.
04:08 [applause]
04:10 I didn't hear the naysayers when they were like, "You're too old to go to California.
04:14 If you don't hit my 25, you're not going to make it."
04:17 I will be 46 this year. I am just touching the surface.
04:20 I am just getting started.
04:23 [applause]
04:25 [music]
04:28 [music]
04:31 [music]
04:34 [music]
04:37 (upbeat music)