There’s a particular feeling you get when you see something fresh. It might be as small as a stranger’s act of kindness in a grocery store or parking lot. A kid dancing on the sidewalk to music you’ve never heard, but it sounds so good. Someone standing up and saying the truth when silence would be easier. That flicker of possibility has the power to shake you out of numbness and help you be hopeful again. And that’s what I felt these last couple of months as I watched Zohran Mamdani move through his campaign to become the next mayor of New York City.
I first heard his name a few years ago from his mom! His mother is the great Mira Nair! A legendary filmmaker and a fierce spirit. She was a guest at my studio, the ARRAY Creative Campus in LA, where we honored her and screened her films and had a public conversation. Privately, she shared that her son was working in local politics trying to make a difference in the boroughs. In fact, at the same time that we were paying tribute to her in LA, Zohran was actually on a hunger strike for NYC taxi drivers to eliminate their medallion debt! She wouldn't eat because her son wasn’t eating. That’s the kind of love and care that Zohran comes from. And that’s the kind of fierceness he possesses.
I remembered the first Mira Nair film I ever saw. Mississippi Masala. Denzel Washington, so handsome and head strong. It was a story that crossed continents and cultures, bridged by romantic love. It meant so much to me as an emerging filmmaker to see that a woman had made this film, a woman of color too! A lady with a point of view and a passport and a heart that stretched across oceans and into the American South. That story stuck to my ribs. And now here was her son, grown into a man who knows how to speak in full paragraphs about justice and dignity.
Today, NYC Election Day, I hopped on Instagram Live with Mira’s son, Assemblyman Mamdani while he was driving between appearances. He spoke of rent-burdened New Yorkers, of subway riders scraping to get by, of reaching for something more than what we’ve already got. His clarity and compassion felt rare and real to me. He said that ranking Andrew Cuomo would be like handing the fire hose to an arsonist. Okay, Zohran!
So this is your last chance. From now until 9 PM ET, if you’re in New York, vote. If you’re not in New York, but you know someone there, text them. DM them. Call them.
Because when something new glimmers, don’t ignore it. Investigate it. Reach for it and take a closer look. Sometimes the new thing is the true thing. Sometimes the son of artists and activists grows into the kind of leader who reminds you that hope is here and ready to serve.
Share this post