Elected to lead New York City, Zohran Mamdani carries a political legacy rooted in East Africa, India, and global progressive struggles. For Abdoulaye Bathily, special envoy of the Senegalese president, who has known the family for over forty years, the new mayor's activism is directly connected to his parents' history.

“I met Mahmood Mamdani in Dar es Salaam in 1979, when he had fled the dictatorship of Amin Dada,” says Abdoulaye Bathily.

A professor of political science and a pan-African activist, the father of the new mayor of New York campaigned at the time against apartheid and colonial regimes alongside exiled African intellectuals, including Yoweri Museveni and Paul Kagame, Mr. Bathily recounts in an interview with RFI.

For him, Zohran Mamdani's commitment, particularly to Palestine, stems directly from this family background. "Against apartheid, which was then supported by Israel, Mahmood was on the front line. Young Zohran followed in his father's footsteps in this fight," he emphasizes.

Married to filmmaker Mira Naïr, an activist and award-winning artist known for Salaam Bombay!, Mahmood Mamdani raised his son "in a militant and internationalist atmosphere." "They came to Dakar in 2007 with young Zohran to visit Gorée. He grew up aware of African and Asian struggles," says Bathily. "The mayor's middle name, Kwame, pays homage to Kwame Nkrumah. Quite symbolic," Bathily comments, noting that Zohran has worked on Frantz Fanon and Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

Having become a naturalized American citizen in 2018, the young elected official has not renounced his Ugandan nationality. "It's not artificial. His father is deeply attached to Africa," insists Bathily, who sees the family's Muslim spirituality as another driving force behind this commitment.