D’Asante Small: It’s Going To Take Time and We Have to Appreciate That

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NASSAU, BAHAMAS – The name D’Asante Small maybe new for many in the political arena but  already she’s one of the women in the Progressive Liberal Party breaking the proverbial glass ceiling.

She has served in the war room, getting her start in the party’s youth arm – the Progressive Young Liberals.

She’s had enough experience to make this assessment. 

“We have to mentor more women to come forward we can’t just pick up and say election coming up let’s find some women,” Small said.

“It takes us a little bit longer in terms of we have to overcome our personal issues or obstacles. I know for myself you know in my age bracket a lot of my friends there are a stage of either starting a family or they have young kids and as women we have to consider these things.”

And her assessments on why Bahamians have yet to vote for a Bahamian female prime minster are equally as sound. 

“Women are leading, whether it’s in the home, whether it’s in our schools or churches,” Small said.

“We see women advancing at high offices, and so we have to overcome that we have to let go of that and I think the reason why the United States is seeing the shift is because there’s generational shift occurring.”

Small says the absence of our women from the ballot for prime minister, is more than just a political deficiency.  She equates it to a lack of focus on issues of equality. 

There’s also this  view of why men still have the upper hand over women on the political battlefield.

“Men have privilege and audacity,” she said.

“I’ve seen it in the workplace; I’ve seen where men will apply for jobs they are not qualified for because they’re willing to do it. I think women, we second guess ourselves; we say to ourselves oh, I’m not ready. I don’t, I haven’t done this yet. I haven’t done that. And we would find every reason why we shouldn’t, when a man only needs one reason – he wants to, and he puts himself forward.”

In the Bahamian context, women have been involved in politics for as long as we’ve had the two party system.  Once the Progressive Liberal Party was formed women were given key roles which led to successive wins at the polls. 

But, Small says those roles and the posture women sometimes take, are a huge determinant for how women are perceived.