On Zohran Mamdani

The New Yorker did a profile of Zohran Madani to delectate. I've found many things to recommend Mamdani's bid for mayor of New York, including that you know what he stands for, whether you agree with him or not. His politics seem as sincere as a politician can get, as opposed to cynically blowing with the political winds in the hope that they might get you into office.

The profile helped me understand why his campaign resonates. Mamdani is a polyglot, with a cosmopolitan outlook, who has lived as an ethnic minority for most of his life. Mamdani was born in Uganda where he spent the first five years of his life, until his father was exiled during Idi Amin's Asian expulsions. Mamdani grew up in the shadow of this and other injustices. Mamdani has lived in a number of countries, for significant lengths of time, including Egypt and South Africa.

Mamdani's father is an academic at Columbia whose work has focused on colonialism. His mother is a film-maker. Mamdani wrote his thesis on Frantz Fanon. I was a little envious reading that growing up, Mamdani got to be around Edward Said, who is a personal hero to me, and whose life and writing arrests any potential descent into cynicism. Mamdani's family, "often had Edward and Mariam Said and Rashid and Mona Khalidi over for dinner," Mamdani's father is quoted as saying. "For Zohran, they were 'uncles' and 'aunties.' "

All of which is to say that it's no wonder that this interesting and varied background has forged Mamdani's political views. I will be following the election with interest.

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