She started at the bottom, now she’s at the top
By Busta Brown
She was raised in a low-income neighborhood, watched men beat her mother while she hid, and was a single mother with four children. Antonina L. Griffin’s testimony is a real life, started from the bottom, “now I’m here.”
“My mom passed away when I was 9 years old. The only thing I remember is men beating on her. As I was growing up, I always said I would never ever allow a man to beat on me,” but that didn’t quite go as Antonina planned.
“And then it ended up happening to me.”
Griffin’s dad wasn’t in her life, so she was attracted to men she felt could protect her. “I went for the thug type to feel safe, because I didn’t have that male role model. I grew up with my brother and grandmother. Every other weekend we used to have to go to another one of my aunt’s houses, and there I was molested, and that added to the things that I was going through.”
She said no one talked to her about going to college, life after high school and relationships. “When I was a teenager, I called myself being in love and became a teenage mom. And then the woman who raised me, I loved more than anything, and thought would be here forever, she died.” Antonina was speaking of her grandmother. At an early age she grew up motherless and fatherless, and now her rock is gone, yet she didn’t feel hopeless. “As a kid I always had a dream that I would not live life like this. I wanted more than I saw.”
“I have four children by three different men, and it was only with one of the fathers I experienced domestic violence,” Griffin said.
One night, Griffin said, her son saw the beating, and she had a flashback of her childhood seeing her mother getting beat. “I packed my bags and children, then went to a parking lot to call my best friend that worked at a hotel. She put us up for a month, and I used that time to find God. I asked God why am I going through all of this, He said my plan for your life is greater than everything you went through. Now it’s time to do my will, so it’s your move. I’m waiting on you. I joined a church and was faithful with my sowing into the church. God blessed me.”
Her daydreaming came true. She has three very successful businesses: a funeral home, health and wellness company and mental health agency. She’s a motivational speaker, author, and has a nonprofit called “Scar.” Scar is a support system for victims of domestic violence.
Antonina L. Griffin has been happily married for 14 years to her best friend and business partner. “When we met, he asked me what I wanted to do with my life. I said I see myself traveling all over the world speaking, and he said then let’s make it happen. He knew I had baggage, but he never complained about it. He helped me unpack and organize my baggage.” Griffin and her husband, Darin, are very proud of their five children: Raven, 27; Kwamez, 24; Kwanye, 22; Kyijha, 18; and Kyizahay 16.
She started from the bottom, now she’s here! See my interview on YouTube.com on our Winstonsalem Chronicle channel.
