The Guardian reports:

Zohran Mamdani’s victory in New York City’s Democratic primary for mayor has a group of Pakistani American aunties and uncles so excited that they are wondering if they should have given their own children more freedom in choosing their careers. “What if we let our kids become politicians, and not just doctors and engineers?” a member of the grassroots political organizing group, Drum Beats, asked at a small celebration held at an Islamic school last month in south Brooklyn.

Drum Beats, which represents New York City’s working-class south Asian and Indo-Caribbean populations, was one of the first grassroots groups to endorse Mamdani, when he launched his campaign in October – long before he became a household name. More than 300 volunteers, who spoke near a dozen languages, knocked on at least 10,000 doors to support him. Drum Beats says these efforts helped increase turnout by almost 90% among Indo-Caribbean and South Asian voters in some neighborhoods.

The unabashed 33-year-old assemblyman ranked near the bottom of the pack when he began campaigning. Now, Mamdani has a chance to be New York City’s first Asian American and Muslim mayor. His family came to the United States when he was seven, and he became a citizen in 2018. He was born to Indian parents in Kampala, Uganda.

Mamdani’s campaign has piqued the interest of many south Asian Americans, as well as a diverse population of Muslims – not only because of his identity, but his platform, too. Many Muslims, even those who may not fully agree with Mamdani’s approach on every issue, see his rise as a sign of hope in a city where racism and Islamophobia erupted following the September 11 terrorist attacks.

“We are stepping into leadership roles that challenge longstanding assumptions about who can represent the city of New York and Americans more broadly,” says Youssef Chouhoud, an associate professor of political science at Christopher Newport University and expert on Muslim Americans. [Continue reading…]