NASSAU, Bahamas - Prime Minister Phillip Davis says he had been stung by words uttered by some people, who felt that he was “too dark” and “from too far out of the margins” and “not polished enough” to lead a government in The Bahamas.
Prime Minister Phillip DavisAddressing the Toastmaster 1600 Legacy Leadership Banquet on Monday night, Davis, who became prime minister on September 17, 2021, when he led his Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) to victory in the general elections, said “there were people who never thought someone like me would end up where I am tonight.
“I didn’t look the part. I was too short. Too dark. From too far out on the margins—an island boy from Cat Island. Not polished enough. Not proper enough. Certainly not someone they imagined leading a nation.
“And I’d be lying if I said those words didn’t sting. Or that the doubt never crept in. Because it did. But I kept showing up. I kept speaking. I kept learning. And I kept believing, bit by bit, that I didn’t need to fit anyone’s mould to lead, to serve, to matter.”
Prime Minister Davis told the banquet the reason he made it, wasn’t as a result of forcing “
my way through the door” but “it’s because someone opened it.
“Someone saw something in me when others didn’t. Someone gave me the space to grow.
That’s why this work matters,” he said, quoting from the Bible that reminds the faithful the stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
“And I believe that. Because I lived it. So now, it’s our turn. Let’s go find the Davids. Let’s go find the ones tending sheep out in the fields. The boys being overlooked. The ones who don’t wear suits, who don’t know the right people, who’ve been told they’ll never make it.
“Let’s speak life into them. Let’s give them structure, encouragement, accountability. Let’s let them know: you are seen, you are worthy, and your voice matters. Because if we’re serious about legacy, then it can’t just be about who we were—it has to be about who we lift,” he said.
Earlier, Prime Minister Davis had told the ceremony that often when people speak of legacy, they ted to get it wrong imagining statues, ceremonies and speeches “the kind of thing we’re doing right now.
“But legacy, true legacy , is quieter than that. It’s not always visible. Often, the person who shaped your path is long gone by the time you realize they’ve done it. It’s a strange thing, leadership. We spend years trying to prove we’re ready for it, only to discover, once we have it, that the real task is learning to make space for others.”
He said he learned that in Toastmasters and not from a podium, but in the quiet back-and-forth of practice.
“In the hard, sometimes awkward, work of learning how to express a thought clearly. How to accept criticism without retreat. How to listen, not to win an argument, but to understand someone else. I joined Toastmasters as a young man because I thought I needed to become a better speaker,” said Davis, who is also an attorney.
But he said that was not the most important thing I learned.
“I learned how to think. I learned how to wait. I learned how to make room for someone else’s words. And I began to understand what it meant to serve, without applause, and without the need to be recognised. That, to me, is where legacy begins.”
