Zohran Mamdani campaign organiser to address public meeting in Derry
New York trade union organiser Emma Bally will share first-hand insights into the campaign behind Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral victory at a public meeting in Derry on Wednesday.
A coordinator of Zohran Mamdani’s historic New York City mayoral campaign will visit Derry this week to discuss the grassroots organising and working-class politics behind the victory.
Emma Bally, a New York-based trade union organiser and member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), will address a public meeting organised by People Before Profit at 6pm on Wednesday, October 21, in the Northern Counties Building, Waterloo Place.
The meeting will examine the factors behind Mamdani’s election victory, which has attracted international attention and renewed debate about the prospects for socialist politics in the United States.
People Before Profit said Bally would offer first-hand insights into the issues that drove support for Mamdani, as well as the importance of workplace and community organising in building the movement that helped make his victory possible.
Derry People Before Profit councillor Shaun Harkin said the meeting would provide an opportunity to learn from the campaign and the growth of the socialist movement in the US.
“We’re looking forward to hearing from Emma and the work of Democratic Socialist of America members in the Zohran Mamdani campaign,” he said.
Cllr Harkin said Mamdani’s victory had created hope in the United States and internationally that political change was possible.
He pointed to the campaign’s support for Palestinian rights, migrants and reproductive choice, alongside its focus on working-class demands and opposition to fascism and war.
“There are lessons for socialists, trade union activists and progressives in Ireland from the Mamdani campaign and the explosive growth of the socialist movement in the US,” Cllr Harkin said.
He also highlighted the challenges facing Mamdani as mayor of a city that is home to Wall Street and some of the world’s wealthiest individuals and corporations.
“They will not want Mamdani to succeed or for a socialist progressive challenge to the Republican and Democratic Party to emerge,” he said.
The meeting is expected to explore how grassroots activism, trade union organising and a campaign centred on working-class concerns can help build support for an alternative to established political parties.
The public meeting takes place at 6pm on Wednesday, October 21, in the Northern Counties Building, Waterloo Place, Derry. All those interested in socialist politics, trade unionism and the lessons of the Mamdani campaign are invited to attend.