WS Chronicle

Beautiful Countenance is a nonprofit that focuses on the rights of women and the issues plaguing them such as domestic violence and breast cancer. On Saturday, Nov. 16, the organization held their annual Beauty Ashes luncheon.

The purpose of the luncheon was to bring ladies together to uplift and fellowship with one another in a safe, non-judgmental environment. Gwendolyn Johnson Robinson, founder of Beautiful Countenance, brought together a varied collection of speakers that delivered powerful messages Saturday afternoon.

“I think this year was even more awesome than last year, only because we had a different array of speakers and focused on more than just domestic violence and breast cancer,” she said. “I think we are growing in that way where we are incorporating survivors from all walks of life.”

The speakers inspired her to keep the hope, said Robinson. She said one of the recurring themes of many of the speakers was to be sure you know yourself.

“A lot of times we get busy as people and we get bogged down and we don’t pay attention to ourselves. But it’s important to pay attention to yourself, to notice if any changes occurred,” said Robinson.

Robinson feels it is important to keep the issues women face front and center, to stay in the conversation. She thinks that is one of the ways positive changes can be made in those arenas.

“I wanted to combine breast cancer and domestic violence, so we could keep both of these issues on a national level, because domestic violence is not on the same level nationally as breast cancer and it affects all people,” she continued.

“I wanted to fuse the two, because both issues occur with both males and females, so that was another component that I wanted to shed light on.”

One of the goals moving forward for Robinson is to have more males come and share their stories concerning domestic violence, because she knows that is an issue that is swept under the rug most often.

“I know of many men who have been abused and it’s hard for me to get them to come speak about it, but I continuously try to make a safe space for them to feel comfortable to come out and share,” said Robinson. “It’s just so taboo for men to share about domestic violence and even breast cancer.”

In the future, Robinson stated she would love to have a transitional home for men, women and children who are dealing with various issues. 

“I want a place for all people that are abused, so they can have a place to go to, so they don’t have to live under a stigma if they are in a same-sex marriage, for example,” she said.

It is a blessing to bring these issues out in the forefront, Robinson said.  

“This is very euphoric for me, because connections are made,” she went on to say. “These connections are with people who don’t look like you, or from the same walks of life, or even the same sex. Connections are made when you share and bring awareness and I really believe this is my life’s work and this is what I was meant to do.”