But why, in these dark times, attach so much importance to what the new mayor of New York, Zohran Mamdani, says and does, while Trump bombs Venezuela and kidnaps Maduro and his wife? Or while Netanyahu and his Israel persist in exterminating the Palestinians and Putin rains bombs and missiles on Ukrainian cities? Why talk about Mamdani when the daily international news is dominated by the countless macabre exploits of capitalist and imperialist barbarism? Our answer is categorical: we attach so much importance to what Zohran Mamdani says and does because this new mayor of the megalopolis par excellence that is New York, together with the mass movement that supports him, currently represents the greatest, if not the only, hope for humanity, for those from below, to begin to resist and even defeat Trump and his Brown International at the very heart of their US stronghold! As Bernie Sanders so aptly stated in his speech, just before investing Mamdani as mayor of New York, in front of thousands of New Yorkers: ” In a moment when people in America, and, in fact, throughout the world, are losing faith in democracy, over 90,000 of you in this city volunteered for Zohran’s campaign. You knocked on doors. You shared your dreams and your hopes for the future of this city. And in the process, you took on the Democratic establishment, the Republican establishment, the president of the United States and some enormously wealthy oligarchs, and you defeated them in the biggest political upset in modern American history.”

So let’s talk about Zohran Mamdani who, despite most of the international media and all those who—obviously on the right but, unfortunately, also on the left—persist in calling him a “Democrat” or “belonging to the left wing of the Democratic Party,” inaugurated his term as mayor of New York by declaring: “I was elected as a Democratic Socialist and I will govern as a Democratic Socialist.” Mamdani’s statement is nothing short of sensational when you consider that Democratic Socialists are members of the far-left organization called Democratic Socialists of America (DSA)! And to leave no room for doubt, addressing the tens of thousands of New Yorkers gathered in front of City Hall despite the freezing cold, Mamdani added: “. ” We will govern without shame and insecurity, making no apology for what we believe. I was elected as a democratic socialist, and I will govern as a democratic socialist.”

That said, it must be noted that the most important thing about Mamdani’s memorable inauguration day on January 1, 2026, was not his aforementioned statement/clarification. The most important thing was the overall atmosphere, that very rare mixture of emotion, brotherly affection, and elation created by everything that was said, recited, sung, and applauded, not only by Mamdani, but also by those who spoke or attended this historic event. For example, the extraordinary Imam Khalid Latif punctuated his tremendously inspiring, profound, poetic, and radical speech with advice to Mamdani, such as this: ” There will be days ahead when the pressures of power will test you. When compromise will be dressed up as pragmatism, when silence will be offered as wisdom, and when the cost of truth will feel heavier than its reward. In those moments, I pray you remember who you have always been: someone who chose conviction over convenience, justice over comfort, and people over position. Hold fast to that. It is rarer than you know, and more needed than ever.” And while surrounded by religious leaders of different faiths, Imam Khalid Latif roused the crowd with his speech, just behind him was the representative of the Jewish faith, Rabbi Ellen Lippmann, who seemed to be in seventh heaven, approving the imam’s words with very eloquent smiles and grimaces…

Echoing the good imam’s exhortations, Mamdani later stated from the same podium that “ In writing this address, I have been told that this is the occasion to reset expectations, that I should use this opportunity to encourage the people of New York to ask for little and expect even less. I will do no such thing. The only expectation I seek to reset is that of small expectations.“ Mamdani hastened to explain his remarks with this universally valid statement: ” For too long we have turned to the private sector for greatness while accepting mediocrity from those who serve the public. I cannot blame anyone who has come to question the role of government, whose faith in democracy has been eroded by decades of apathy. We will restore that trust by walking a different path, one where government is no longer solely the final recourse for those struggling, one where excellence is no longer the exception.”

Moreover, it is certainly no coincidence that Mamdani has the rare “privilege” of seeing the broadest coalition of reactionary, obscurantist, and murderous figures rally against him, including Trump of the United States, Netanyahu of Israel, Modi of India, and the cream of the crop of Nazifascism and the international far right. Not to mention Russia’s Putin, whose RT channel has displayed the most delirious Islamophobia by hastening to warn good Americans that Mamdani “puts Sharia law above American law” simply because Mamdani dared to take the oath of office on the Koran! This whole bunch of dictators and other executioners of humanity know very well why they hate to death the young mayor of New York, the Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani…

Of course, the memorable day of Mamdani’s inauguration cannot be summed up in the few excerpts from speeches that we have just quoted. Having had the chance to attend a little, following it live despite being… in Athens, we can only want to share with others the rare moments of emotion and excitement that it gave us. (1) In these dark, barbaric, and desperate times, knowing that there are tens of thousands of young and not-so-young men and women in the very lair of the ferocious fascist beast who are standing up to it and fighting tooth and nail to defend the rights of those at the bottom, gives rise to hope, restores optimism and inspires millions of people not only in the United States but also throughout our planet…

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Notes

1. See the video (1h 41 m) of the celebrations for Zohran Mamdani’s inauguration:  https://www.democracynow.org/live/coming_up_the_inauguration_of_nyc

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