From New York — the birthplace of Trump the mogul, Trump the president, and now Trump the seller of perfumes and golden sneakers — emerges a figure who could shift the course of American politics: Zohran Mamdani. His recent victory in the Democratic primaries for the mayoralty of the country’s most influential city is not just an electoral triumph. It signals something deeper: a transformation.
Mamdani does not fit the classic mold of a politician. He is the son of Indian filmmaker Mira Nair, director of Monsoon Wedding, and African intellectual Mahmood Mamdani, a global reference in postcolonial studies. His biography weaves together Uganda, India, New York, and a solid political foundation built from the ground up. Activist, organizer, Muslim, millennial, and New Yorker. The perfect anti-Trump.
While the president turns politics into a home-shopping show — selling branded perfumes, gold-plated phones, and $400 sneakers — Mamdani has revived a forgotten idea for voters: politics can serve a greater purpose than mere entertainment. It can change lives.
His campaign has been a masterclass in grassroots organizing: alliances between young people, immigrants, union workers, climate activists, and marginalized communities. Far from backrooms and traditional donors, he built a network that connects neighborhoods, mosques, university classrooms, and TikTok. A coalition that reflects the real New York more than any postcard ever could.
Mamdani doesn’t offer an empty dream. He speaks about dignified housing, healthcare access, worker protections, accessible public transit, and racial justice. In a country where politics has turned into a spectacle, he has chosen reality. And made it inspiring.
In contrast, Trumpism has taken on an almost grotesque dimension. Trump sells products with his name as if they were sacred symbols. For months, he held dinners with billionaires, promoted cryptocurrencies, and promised a country in service of his businesses. Newsweek described him accurately: “Trump is no longer doing politics; he’s selling infomercials built on nostalgia.”
Zohran Mamdani, on the other hand, listens. Instead of posing, he organizes. Instead of dividing, he brings people together. And that gesture is the source of his strength.
He cannot run for president — he was not born in the United States. But his figure represents something more powerful than personal ambition. He represents the return of meaningful politics. The kind built collectively — in assemblies, in the streets, in protests. The kind not polished by marketing, but grounded in principles and memory.
Can Mamdani govern? Can he turn this victory into something more than a colorful footnote for the progressive press? Can his story — half Bollywood, half Bronx — become a national model? Some are already asking. Others are already trembling.
The truth is, in a country that has turned spectacle into politics, Mamdani has made politics something worth telling. And in that story — a mix of cinema, activism, and tangible utopia — the spirit of another eternal New Yorker filters through: Malcolm X, who also knew prison, exclusion, faith, exile, and return. Who also spoke of dignity and community, before being silenced.
Zohran Mamdani, by law, cannot aspire to the presidency of the United States. He was not born on American soil. But if he continues on this path, he might forever change the most important question: Who has the right to dream in America?
The answer, as so many times before, comes from New York.
