Zohran Mamdani’s stunning upset in the New York City mayoral race appears to be a remarkable story of the rise of a political underdog, but for many New Yorkers, his victory was a longtime coming. His win, powered by about 100,000 volunteers and a groundswell of support from working-class immigrant and ethnic communities, is the culmination of years of grassroots organizing and nurturing a socialist base across the five boroughs, and long-simmering frustration with the city’s democrat party establishment. 

Longtime listeners of Asia Pacific Forum will recognize some aspects of his biography. When APF came on the air on WBAI in the late 90s, Zohran had just moved to the city with his parents, Columbia scholar of postcolonial politics Mahmood Mamdani and independent filmmaker Mira Nair. The arc of his family’s life in New York embodies experiences that Asian American communities--and this show--have moved to the foreground of the city’s cultural landscape over the past generation.

We speak with Leah Wong of Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) and Jagpreet Singh of DRUM Beats about what Zohran's win means for the city's working-class communities, the South Asian diaspora, and the national political landscape.

The New York Sari exhibit at the New York Historical Society features the Sari as a symbol of South Asian women’s struggles in the diaspora and as an embodiment of cultural power in a multicultural metropolis. Curator Salonee Bhaman with the Center for Women's History talks about the Sari's many incarnations in New York's fashion, social and political history.