Dame Mason: Black Woman Becomes First Elected President of Barbados
- Dame Sandra Prunella Mason has made history as the first elected president of Barbados
- The 72-year-old female politician and lawyer was unanimously elected by the House of Assembly and the Senate on Wednesday, October 20
- Mason, who is the president-elect of Barbados, is due to take office on November 30, 2021
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A Black female politician and lawyer, Dame Sandra Mason, has become the first president of Barbados after the nation severed ties with the British Monarchy, Travel Noire reports.
Source: Getty Images
Mason was nominated by Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley to be Barbados' first president and subsequently unanimously elected by the House of Assembly and the Senate on Wednesday, October 20.
The Barbadian politician, who is the eighth and current Governor-General since 2018 and the president-elect of Barbados, is due to take office on November 30, 2021.
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Previous feats
Mason graduated from the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados, and the Hugh Wooding Law School.
She made history as the first Bajan woman to graduate from Trinidadian Law School.
In September 2020, the Bajan government decided to sever ties with the British Monarchy, announcing the removal of Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state.
Independent nation
Barbados became an independent country in 1966 along with 16 other countries formerly part of the "British Empire''.
However, the nation continued to recognise Queen Elizabeth as its sovereign head of state. The removal of the Queen became official in September 2021.
Prof Dorothy Yeboah-Manu appointed first female Director of Noguchi
Earlier, Briefly News reported that Eritrean-born politician, Awet Tesfaiesus, has become the first African-born Black woman elected into the German parliament, the Bundestag.
Tesfaiesus, who ran on the ticket of the Green Party, won during the recently held German elections on Sunday, September 26.
She was the candidate for Hessen, which includes Frankfurt and Kassel, where she lives.
In the Bundestag, the 47-year-old plans to fight racism, discrimination, and advocate for asylum law.
About Awet Tesfaiesus
Born in Eritrea, Tesfaiesus migrated to Germany with her family at the age of six and grew up in Heidelberg.
Source: Briefly News
