National

Dr. Niambi Hall Campbell-Dean: When Women Win, Everybody Wins

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – Nearly 52 years after Independence, in a country where the majority are people of color, who were once under foreign rule – there remain glaring examples of inequality for women in The Bahamas.

Published

1 year ago

October 31, 2024

Sasha Lightbourne

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – You name it and in most places and professions in the world a woman has been at the top.

Yet, nearly 52 years after Independence, in a country where the majority are people of color, who were once under foreign rule – there remain glaring examples of inequality for women in The Bahamas.

Nowhere is more apparent than the title of prime minister. But before we examine why let’s look at the benefits.

“I think that the time is now for us to really advocate for the things that we need in the country because the reality is that when women win, everybody wins, you know when women advance they take everybody with them,” Dr. Niambi Hall Campbell-Dean said.

Dr. Niambi Hall Campbell-Dean is an associate professor.

She is also a strong advocate for reparations for the descendants of slaves.

She began her analysis on the question of a female prime minister with this view of why our size may be a factor.

“In The Bahamas everybody knows everybody right,” she said.

“The degrees of separation is maybe two so you know, I think in societies where maybe more spread out, that women’s personal lives are not as scrutinized as they may be here where you can be like well who she tink she is, I know her, I’ve been in school with her, I know her cousin and you know she was dating this one and now she won’t be leader.”

Next, we unpacked this idea of male dominance in politics.

She shared some candid views on why men continue to hold down seats at the top.

Our political system dictates that a party leader goes on to become prime minister in an election but here’s where her analysis of leading the country versus leading a party, got us thinking.

“I think it all depends on who we’re really referencing when we say Bahamians,” Dr. Campbell Hall-Dean said.

“You know our population for the most part is very young but if you are 25 in The Bahamas, you’ve never seen a consistent government you know, so your perception of what governance might be is very much intertwined with politics so that the clear delineation between what it means to govern and what it means to be in a political party is not very is not very clear.”