Zohran, Barack, Kamala and Pete

"Zohran Mamdani, a 34-year-old with a degree in African Studies, born in Kampala, the capital of Uganda, will be the next mayor of New York City. He will do so after winning more than 50% of the vote, a remarkable feat. And the list of historic firsts he represents for New York's mayoralty is long: he will be the first Muslim, the first socialist, and the youngest person to hold the office in more than a century."

"Yet, despite these firsts, Mamdani also embodies a certain continuity with a lesser-discussed feature of the Democratic Party in recent years: like Barack Obama, Kamala Harris, and Pete Buttigieg, Mamdani is the child of socialist immigrants. The socialism of these parents was forged during the revolutionary decades of the 1960s and 1970s. In the 1960s, Obama's father held a senior position in Kenya's Ministry of Economics, serving as a self-critical socialist within the economic project led by the charismatic hero of independent Kenya, Tom Mboya."

Zohran Mamdani, a 34-year-old African Studies graduate born in Kampala, won more than 50% of the vote to become New York City's next mayor. His victory registers multiple historic firsts: the first Muslim, the first socialist, and the youngest person to hold the office in over a century. Mamdani represents continuity with a pattern in the Democratic Party of leaders shaped by parents who were socialist immigrants. Those parents developed their politics during the 1960s and 1970s; some held significant roles in postcolonial governments or met through civil rights and political movements, later pursuing advanced academic careers alongside political commitments.

Read at english.elpais.com