When Zohran Kwame Mamdani was elected mayor of New York City in November 2025, he didn’t just make history as the city’s first Muslim mayor, youngest in over a century, and first born in Africa. He brought to City Hall a life story mixed from multiple continents, cultures, and struggles, one that fundamentally shaped his commitment to immigrant communities and working families.
Zohran Mamdani’s Roots: Indian Diaspora, Uganda, and Pan-Africanism
Born in Kampala, Uganda, on October 18, 1991, Mamdani carries a name heavy with meaning. His first name, chosen by his mother, means “the first star in the sky” in Arabic. His middle name, Kwame, was given by his father to honor Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president and Pan-African hero. This naming itself reflects the crossroads of identity he would navigate, the child of Indian parents in East Africa, bearing a tribute to West African liberation.
His parents are remarkable figures in their own right. His father, Mahmood Mamdani, is a renowned postcolonial scholar. Tragically, Idi Amin expelled his father from Uganda in 1972 due to his Indian ethnicity. Later, Milton Obote revoked his citizenship because of his political criticism. However, he eventually returned from exile.
His mother, Mira Nair, is the acclaimed filmmaker behind Monsoon Wedding and Salaam Bombay! Growing up in such a household meant that dinner table conversations revolved around decolonization and diaspora. These concepts would later inform his political vision.
From Kampala to the Bronx: Zohran Mamdani’s Path to U.S. Citizenship
At age five, Mamdani’s family moved to Cape Town, South Africa, where his father taught at the University of Cape Town during the post-apartheid era. Then, at seven, they relocated to New York City, where young Zohran attended public schools, including the Bronx High School of Science. He would later study Africana Studies at Bowdoin College, becoming a U.S. citizen only in 2018, just seven years before his mayoral victory.
This journey across three continents gave Mamdani what he calls “a global lens” for understanding American issues. His experience as part of Uganda’s Indian diaspora, his time in post-apartheid South Africa, and his path to citizenship in America shaped his understanding of what it means to be perpetually “other”, never quite fitting into neat boxes of identity.
From Activism to Politics: Housing Counseling and Palestinian Liberation Roots
Before politics, Mamdani’s activism took many forms. He co-founded his school’s first cricket team in high school. He describes this act as formative in learning how “coming together… can transform rhetoric into reality.” His political awakening deepened through the movement for Palestinian liberation, which he credits as foundational to his organizing roots.
Working as a foreclosure-prevention housing counselor was his entry into electoral politics. Day after day, he helped low-income immigrant homeowners in Queens fight eviction notices. He recognized that the housing crisis wasn’t natural but the consequence of pro-corporate policies. This work ignited his determination to change the system from within.
Zohran Mamdani’s Legislative Victories: Taxi Workers’ Debt Relief and Organizing
Mamdani was elected to the New York State Assembly in 2020 at age 29. Subsequently, he became the first South Asian man, the first Ugandan, and the third Muslim to serve in that body. His legislative victories reflected his activist roots. He organized with the New York Taxi Workers Alliance to secure over $450 million in debt relief. In fact, many of the thousands of drivers were South Asian immigrants. In 2021, he joined these drivers on a 15-day hunger strike to demand relief.
The Artistic Side: Zohran Mamdani as Rapper Mr. Cardamom
His cultural fluency extended beyond policy. Mamdani once rapped under the name Mr. Cardamom, collaborating with Ugandan artists and performing in Luganda and English, a creative expression of his layered identity. His 2016 EP Sidda Mukyaalo (“No going back to the village”) challenged stereotypes about who Indian Ugandans and South Sudanese Ugandans could be.
When Mamdani stood before supporters on election night, he spoke to immigrants and workers with ‘fingers bruised… palms calloused’. These were people who, like him, had been told power didn’t belong to them. Ultimately, his victory proved otherwise, showing that transformation remains real for those willing to organize and dream across borders.
