How immigration, language, and diaspora shaped NYC’s mayor
A Child of Three Continents
Zohran Kwame Mamdani was born in Kampala, Uganda on October 18, 1991, but lived his first five years across three continents before settling in New York. This peripatetic childhooddefined by movement, displacement, and adaptationprofoundly shaped how he understands belonging, home, and the immigrant experience. Born in Kampala to postcolonial scholar Mahmood Mamdani and filmmaker Mira Nair, Zohran was given his middle name Kwame in honor of Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of Ghana. He spent three years in Cape Town during the post-apartheid transition before the family moved to New York at age seven.
