The result of the conference was the formation of the National Congress of British West Africa, and Small set up the Gambian branch on his return.
[1][5] In 1922 Small founded a newspaper, the Gambia Outlook and Senegambian Reporter, which was published for the first time in Dakar (Senegal) in May of that year.
The room he rented on Rue Félix Faure became a meeting place where Small would discuss his political ideologies.
Some of Small's AOF acquaintances included Ernest Cherry, an individual involved in the League for the Defence of the Negro Race (LDNR),[10] with ties to the French League against Colonial Oppression; Fofana Coulibaly, a former teacher from French Guinea with extremist ideology and anti-French sentiments; and Raphael Mensah, a man "on a list of individuals suspected of being sympathizers of the revolutionary movement."
Small also had links with English-speaking blacks including William Winston, one of the people involved in the Garveyist incidents of 1922.
Backed by his trade union, Small was victorious, defeating I. M. Garba Jahumpa and Sheikh Omar Faye.
[11][12][13][14] Alongside Ibrahim Muhammadu Garba-Jahumpa, Small attended the 1945 World Trade Union Conference in London, England.
Small's trade unionism inspired Alieu Ebrima Cham Joof, who went on to organise and lead the Bread and Butter Demonstration of 1959 that paved the way for Gambian independence.