... Under an awning festooned with balloons, aunties in bright salwar kameez and hijabs unpacked foil-covered plates of Samosas and homemade sweets -- aggressively passing them out along with cups of steaming, milky chai.
The blazing sun on this July afternoon didn't stop locals from dropping by this corner of Kensington Plaza, at the heart of a Brooklyn neighborhood often called Little Bangladesh. Here, the vibe was decidedly more block party than political rally, even though the largely South Asian crowd had gathered to celebrate two electoral victories in their diaspora: Zohran Mamdani's stunning win in the Democratic New York mayoral primary, and that of his ally in the city council, Shahana Hanif.
But they were also there to commemorate something bigger than the victories of two political candidates.
The host of the event, Kazia Fouzia, the 56-year-old director of organizing for Desis Rising and Moving (DRUM) Beats, which works to improve political engagement among working-class South Asians, took to the mic to declare in English and Bangla, "This is a celebration for our community."
That was something, Fouzia said, that she heard often the night of the primary, when people packed the same plaza, erupting in cheers as they watched Mamdani's victory speech projected onto the brick wall at Walgreens. "This is the victory of the Bangladeshi auntie who knocked on door after door until her feet throbbed and her knuckles ached," Mamdani told the crowd that night. ...
