Caribbean Roots MP Shortlisted For Harper’s Woman Of The Year Awards

By NAN Staff Writer

News Americas, The HAGUE, Netherlands, Fri. Oct. 2, 2020: A Caribbean roots woman and Member of the European Parliament has been short listed for this year’s Harper’s Bazaar Women of the Year 2020 award.

The European Parliamentarian with Dutch Caribbean roots, Samira Rafaela, has been shortlisted for her input for the Caribbean parts of the Dutch Kingdom during the coronavirus crisis. Rafaela, who is a member of the Democratic Party D66 and part of the Renew Europe group, said she was elated with her nomination.

“What an honor to be nominated for the Harper’s Bazaar Women of the Year Award 2020. I am honored to be celebrated alongside great women like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the many women working in the health sector on Dutch and Caribbean soil. These women have been at the forefront of the fight against COVID-19 and their commitment has been indispensable, both in Europe and the Caribbean parts of our Kingdom,” Rafaela noted.

She was previously named Woman of the Week in April 2020 for her commitment to the Caribbean islands during the corona crisis.

Some of the other 15 shortlisted women include: health care journalist Anna Dijkman, Jamaican roots writer Zadie Smith,  Hilary Mantel, Puerto Rico roots US Congress Member Ocasio-Cortez, Netflix’s Marketing Executive Bozoma Saint John, virologist Marion Koopmans, bag designer Elza Wandler, photographer Viavane Sassen, journalist/writer Fidan Ekiz and, very special, all the women working on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic.

The winner will be announced on November 19th. The award ceremony will take place in Amsterdam on the 19th of November 2020.

Rafaela has roots in Curaçao where her maternal grandfather came from. Her paternal grandparents were African and she herself grew up in the Netherlands. She considers herself as a ‘progressive, liberal, feminist Muslim woman’. Rafaela had known for some time that she did not fit into boxes, she did not belong anywhere. Not quite Dutch, Caribbean, African, Jewish (her mother was Jewish), Muslim, Moroccan. She herself said about this: “I am proud of all those aspects and accept that I am a separate case.”

“We have to do all we can to stay healthy and to safeguard our economy, including that of the islands,” she told Harper’s recently.