A couple of Saturdays ago, I had an existential question that I couldn’t grapple over. “Do you think I should go canvass?” My wife, knowing ... Read More The post Until We Get It Done (On My Meeting with Zohran Mamdani) appeared first on The Jose Vilson.
A couple of Saturdays ago, I had an existential question that I couldn’t grapple over.
“Do you think I should go canvass?”
My wife, knowing who I was, neither confirmed nor denied my request, but it’s a funny request. I can navigate speeches, protests, rallies, and other large gatherings, but I’m really an introvert. I have a hard time asking anyone for help. Why would I ask someone to vote for anyone … even a candidate like Zohran Mamdani. But over the last couple of weeks, I committed to helping the campaign with its last push in whatever capacity possible. To his credit, Jamaal Bowman would regularly push me to phone bank or contribute. Felicia Singh made canvassing look simple. Sari Beth Rosenberg helped me find a community of folks using their platforms to elevate the movement. A plethora of other education activists demonstrated how to uplift candidates with a strong vision and constructively critique them, particularly on education issues.
So I said to myself, “Well, if I am who I say I am, I have to put my passion to action.” I signed up for two shifts, knowing I could back out whenever I wished. Right after, I hopped into my white hoodie and went to pick up some local Chinese food (the meal for folks who finally got paid).
Just as I was about to cross the street on 116th and 1st, I saw this small wooden desk, the burly security guards, and the folded hands and said, “NO WAY!” It was Zohran Mamdani, the soaring candidate and mayoral hopeful. I mean “hopeful” in multiple ways. After the deflating results of last November’s election, the Mamdani campaign has energized an electorate seeking real answers that neither party addressed.
The assemblymember I met years ago was now a movement unto himself, galvanizing leaders across the city and the country to do better.
I quietly walked over and said, “Are y’all filming the Until It’s Done series!?” They nodded. As an educator, I’ve found it vital for candidates to pair a big vision with a political education. Education is already political, as I’ve documented countless times here. However, few candidates have paired the histories of their constituency with their core issues at this scale. Thankfully, Assemblymember Mamdani has done it so everyone can follow suit.
So yes, I met him and we chopped it up a bit. His people asked me if I’d create a video to encourage folks to canvass, to which my son and I obliged. (Edit: it’s the second time I’ve appeared in a campaign video. The first was a month before the primary and he needed support from the Heights.)
The next morning, while most folks were still asleep, and the marathon volunteers were still setting up, I and a few dozen folks met on 117th and St. Nicholas for our assignments. A few of us made our way to 106 and Madison to encourage people to vote via flyer. A handful of folks bristled at us. One chastised us for encouraging socialism.
But the majority of folks I remember, including several Spanish speakers, were encouraged by our presence near the projects. A Black man told me, “I’ma vote, but my son can’t,” to which I said “Yeah, but you gotta teach them now.” He said, “You right! I like your thinking!” A Black woman said, “You think I want the foolishness I saw upstate to come to Gracie? Hell no!” A white man walked by us and said “It’s time for something different because this ain’t working” while smiling at us. A few Dominicans and Boricuas walked up to me and went from “I’m not sure …” to “Wait, the voting spot is right here? I’m in!” They felt like someone was finally talking to them in their language. I even got a handful of people, mostly younger folks, to vote! The people who I partnered with over the two three-hour shifts were so dedicated and engaging that I could have done another shift.
As I walked home, I saw another large slice of New York City at its highest potential. For the second Sunday in a row, I witnessed the breadth of identities, displays of affection, and warmth that this city has to offer. (The first was at the New York Is Not For Sale Rally in Forest Hills, NY.) Contrary to the many narratives about this complicated place I call home, the ebullient crowd cheering on people they never met felt like a spiritual salt bath for my feet as I walked home. People brought water, snacks, and smiles for runners achieving their personal goals. This citywide ritual that cuts across my neighborhoods provided glimpses of a truly shared humanity.
By the time Zohran Mamdani won the following Tuesday, I felt like I partook in witnessing two marathons as well.
For years, I saw centrist political behemoths run roughshod over the collective will of everyday people. For the former New York State governor, that included everything from cutting funding for public schools to covering up corruption at all levels of government to the benefit of multi-millionaires. The Emmy-winning TV press conferences dissuaded people from believing more than a dozen women and the thousands of preventable deaths during the COVID shutdowns. Weaponizing identity-based hatred for a version of patriotism took over our newscasts and social media. Discarding an old guard that consistently blocked progress felt particularly satisfying.
A week after election results have come in, whole regions of the city will need deep healing and restoration for themselves and the rest of us, too.
But that feels like another battle. The day after Mayor-elect Mamdani walked out to Ja Rule’s “New York,” the New York Times released a block-by-block analysis of the mayoral race. The Lower East Side, El Barrio, Harlem, and Washington Heights all went to Mamdani, all places where I helped to campaign in-person and virtually, all neighborhoods I’ve called home. The majority of people saw what the Trump administration had done to people and institutions and summarily rejected the narratives. The New York City of the folks who built the streets and keep the lights on lives on.
My phone has hundreds of messages bristling with excitement over the results from people across eras, spaces, and ideologies. People wondered why I would dedicate myself to making another man’s vision come true when I have my own audience. I reply that this wasn’t just about Mamdani. It’s about creating a city, and hopefully a world, that reflects my deepest love and aspirations for what our kids and people deserve. I’ll definitely be protesting and engaging if/when polities stray from this larger vision, no matter who’s working in City Hall. Rather than going back to a politics that has never been neutral, I prefer to espouse a politics of compassion, empathy, and justice.
The first step for Gotham is affordability. The next step goes towards a bolder vision for how we live, learn, and love one another. Until we get it done, there’s no reason for me to stop canvassing.
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