WASHINGTON: Nabilah Islam Parkes, a Muslim-American Senator from US state of Georgia, has shared a humorous exchange with her mother following Zohran Mamdani’s historic victory in New York’s mayoral race.
The 34-year-old democratic socialist made history by becoming the first Muslim mayor of the largest US city, defeating Democratic former Governor Andrew Cuomo.
“My mom: why can’t you be Mayor like Zohran?” Parkes wrote on X, adding that her mother dismissed her current position as a state senator as “not good enough.”
Parkes, who represents Georgia’s 7th District, said the comment initially left her irritated but eventually made her smile.
“It’s not hard disappointing Brown parents,” she wrote, “but this time it made me smile because our parents finally get to see us be the people we were told we never could be.”
The post resonated widely across social media, particularly among South Asian and Muslim communities, where children of immigrants often relate to similar family expectations.
Born in Uganda, Mamdani moved to the US in 1998 when he was 7 and became a US citizen in 2018.
Mamdani’s victory capped one of the city’s most closely watched elections in years. More than two million New Yorkers voted — the highest turnout in over half a century — giving Mamdani, a lead of around 9%.
Throughout his campaign, Mamdani faced harsh criticism from conservative media commentators and also from US President Donald Trump over his policies and Muslim heritage.
The democratic socialist has inspired waves of pride among immigrant families in both the United States and abroad.
