By Matija Šerić
“Perhaps the sun has set over our city tonight, but, as Eugene Debs once said, ‘I see the dawn of a better day for humanity.’” With this inspiring reference to the esteemed American socialist, the newly elected mayor of New York City began his victory speech. On the night of November 4–5, when it became clear that the new mayor of the largest American city was the democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, the political landscape of the United States shifted dramatically. At first glance, however, nothing revolutionary had occurred, as Donald Trump and the Republicans continue to hold sway at the federal level. Nevertheless, the victory of an unconventional populist leftist could signal tectonic political changes in the U.S. Whether the better days Debs and Mamdani spoke of will truly arrive remains to be seen, but days of major and unprecedented political transformations in the United States may be ahead.
From Trump to Mamdani
Exactly one year after Trump’s decisive victory in the presidential elections, a similar convincing win was achieved by his polar opposite in local elections. The 34-year-old New York politician of Indian-Ugandan descent celebrated with 50.4% of the vote as a candidate of the Democratic Party; independent Andrew Cuomo came second with 41.6%, and Republican Curtis Sliwa placed third with 7.1%. Mamdani thus became the youngest New York mayor since 1892 and the first Indian American and Muslim to hold this significant position.
Mamdani’s victory in New York City (NYC) could set in motion political processes that, over time, might limit and even end the dominance of Trump, the MAGA movement, and the Republicans. Not only that—America could, within a few years, step onto radically left-wing paths it has never walked before. How is this even possible? The answer lies in the life and work of the newly elected mayor of New York and the fiery political and social realities of the U.S.
Victory speech
Humble Beginnings in Africa
When, on October 18, 1991, a child was born in Kampala, the capital of Uganda, to the Indian-Ugandan anthropologist and academic Mahmood Mamdani and his wife, Indian film director Mira Nair, few could have predicted that he would one day become mayor of New York. It all seems like a movie story, unrealistic for real life; yet sometimes reality is more cinematic and exciting than the silver screen.
Born Zohran Kwame Mamdani, he entered a family of the Indian diaspora in Africa. His father is a Shia Muslim from Gujarat, and his mother is a Hindu from Punjab. Being born into a multiethnic and multireligious family greatly shaped his life path, as did living in different countries during his childhood.
From an early age, Mamdani was destined to earn the nickname “citizen of the world.” At the age of five, his intellectual family moved from Uganda to South Africa, specifically to the capital, Cape Town, where his father Mahmood became the head of African Studies at the city university. In the late 1990s, just after the end of apartheid, Zohran attended a private elementary school for two years. For the first time, he could see social inequalities among children and adults firsthand. He was fortunate to be a child of a wealthy family, unlike the majority of Cape Town’s and South Africa’s children, who lived in severe poverty and without prospects. Although apartheid had ended, social inequalities were far from resolved then—and remain so today.
Moving to the City That Never Sleeps
The Mamdani family spent only two years in unstable South Africa before moving to New York City in 1998. They settled in the upscale neighborhood of Morningside Heights on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. According to Zohran himself, he had a privileged childhood: “I never lacked anything, but I also knew this was not the reality for most New Yorkers.” He attended a private school in his neighborhood (Bankers’ Private School for Children), accessible only to children from wealthy families. In one school election, he ran as an independent candidate. His “political” platform was anti-war and advocated equal rights and responsibilities for all students—an early indication of the positions he would later champion in real elections.
At 12, he temporarily returned to Uganda for a year to stay with his father (who was on official leave) but spent more time with his grandparents, learning more about his family heritage. Still, this was only a brief relocation. His life path remained firmly tied to New York.
Student Days
At 19, he graduated from Kingsbridge Heights High School in the Bronx. During his studies, he founded a cricket team, played soccer, and ran for vice president of the student body—unsuccessfully. He then attended Bowdoin College in Maine, where he founded a chapter of the pro-Palestinian student organization Students for Justice in Palestine. Clearly, he had already immersed himself deeply in both American and global politics. He was a regular contributor to the student newspaper, The Bowdoin Orient, where he wrote about politics, culture, and sports in his column, “Kwame’s Column.” His middle name, Kwame, was given in honor of Ghana’s first president, Kwame Nkrumah. As if destined for great things from the start.
Shaping Political Views
Although he came from a wealthy, cosmopolitan family, Mamdani’s path into social and political activism was by no means guaranteed. How could it be, considering his parents were not American but Indian? During his student years, through journalism and public writing, he refined political positions that ranged from moderate to radical left. In early 2014, he wrote an op-ed in the Bangor Daily News, calling on Bowdoin College to join the boycott of Israel initiated by the American Studies Association (ASA) and criticizing the college dean, Barry Mills, for failing to do so. He graduated that year with a bachelor’s degree in African Studies, somewhat unexpectedly pausing his formal education.
Short report about Mamdani
Entry into Politics
Mamdani quietly entered politics in 2015 as a political activist. That year, he volunteered for the campaign of Democratic candidate Ali Najmi in a special election for New York City’s 23rd Council District. He was motivated by the fact that Najmi was endorsed by Heems, a New York rapper of Indian descent. Two years later, he joined the New York branch of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). He then worked on the campaign of Democratic Socialist Khader El-Yateem, a Lutheran pastor of Palestinian origin, who ran for the New York City Council. Although the candidacy was unsuccessful, it did not deter the young political idealist from politics. Joining the DSA aligned with his own views: socialism + support for Palestine. Mamdani was not alone in this; these positions—fighting for a more socially just America and justice for the Palestinian people—motivate many young Americans, not only those of Muslim background, to engage in political activism in some form.
Artistic Detours
For a time, he also explored music and film, which is unsurprising given his background. He studied, composed, and performed rap under the stage name Young Cardamom, especially in 2016 and 2017, collaborating with some Ugandan rappers. He also authored and produced the soundtrack for the film Queen of Katwe (2016), directed by his mother, Mira Nair, and served as the third assistant director on the film. For his work on the film, he was nominated in 2017 for the prestigious Guild of Music Supervisors Awards. Although he displayed notable artistic talent, he later fully focused on his first love—politics.
References:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/05/zohran-mamdani-victory-speech-transcript
https://nyassembly.gov/mem/Zohran-K-Mamdani
https://www.britannica.com/topic/What-are-Zohran-Mamdanis-positions-on-key-policies
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/11/07/us/new-york-mamdani-india-analysis-intl-hnk
