First and middle names are Swahili for 'hope' and 'love', respectively.

Voted one of "The 10 Sexiest Women of 2001" by the readers of Black Men Magazine.

The father of her only son died unexpectedly in 1997.

First attended North Carolina Agric & Tech where she attempted to study Electrical Engineering. She failed Pre-Calculus so she transferred to Howard University. She worked two jobs: in the morning as a secretary at the Pentagon; in the night as a singing and dancing waitress on a dinner cruise ship to pay for Howard. She graduated from Howard University in 1995.

Contrary to previously published accounts, Taraji is a relative, not a descendant, of North Pole explorer Matthew Henson.

Born and raised in Washington, DC and attended Oxon Hill High School in Oxon Hill, Maryland.

Has a son named Marcel.