My Autobiography: David Balleza K(C)atague: An Asian Immigrant Elected Mayor Of New York City

Saturday, November 8, 2025

An Asian Immigrant Elected Mayor Of New York City

Zohran Mamdani, the newly elected Mayor of New York City, represents a seismic shift in the city's political and cultural landscape, marking the ascent of a bold, progressive, and diverse leadership. As a democratic socialist and the first Muslim and South Asian to serve as mayor, Mamdani’s victory is a historic milestone energized by a grassroots coalition seeking transformative policies and inclusivity.

Zohran Mamdani’s Background and Vision

Born in Kampala, Uganda, and raised in Queens, Zohran Mamdani’s life journey embodies the immigrant spirit, marked by perseverance and community engagement. He is the son of renowned academic Mahmood Mamdani and filmmaker Mira Nair, both of Indian descent, and he has emerged from relative political obscurity as a state assemblyman to national prominence. Winning the mayoral race against high-profile opponents, Mamdani’s campaign was powered by youthful voters, recent immigrants, and working-class New Yorkers, all drawn to his energetic vision for the city.

Future Plans and Policy Proposals

Zohran Mamdani ran and won on an unapologetically left-wing social democratic platform with several cornerstone proposals:

Fare-Free Public Transit: Mamdani pledges to eliminate bus fares citywide, making transit more accessible for all residents.
Rent Freeze: He advocates a citywide rent freeze on rent-stabilized units to protect a million tenants from surging housing costs.
Universal Childcare: Mamdani’s most ambitious initiative is establishing New York’s first universal childcare program, aiming to cover children from infancy to age five, relying on revenue from higher taxes on millionaires and corporations.
Raising the Minimum Wage: Plans include increasing the minimum wage to $30 by the year 2030, addressing widening income inequality in New York.
City-Owned Grocery Stores: He proposes the creation of publicly-run grocery stores to combat food deserts and reduce food prices.
Progressive Taxation: Funding for these policies, according to Mamdani, would come from imposing higher taxes on wealthy individuals and large corporations—a stance that has faced skepticism from business groups and political opponents, but enjoys significant grassroots support.
Public Safety Reform: While maintaining NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, Mamdani plans to shift mental health, homelessness, and outreach into a newly formed Department of Community Safety run by civilian professionals, signaling a decisive pivot toward prevention and rehabilitation in public safety.

These policies position Mamdani as one of the most progressive big-city mayors in the country, likening his approach to the social democratic models seen in parts of Western Europe. His administration is likely to spark national debate, galvanize young and marginalized voters, and set a precedent other urban leaders may seek to emulate.

Liberals are now calling Zohran Mamdani "the greatest leader of the 21st century."

Personal Reflection: Achievements and Shared Challenges as an Asian Immigrant

As someone who has journeyed through the labyrinth of professional life as an Asian immigrant, watching Zohran Mamdani’s ascension is deeply resonant. Witnessing a fellow immigrant shatter glass ceilings and redefine the possibilities for minority leadership in a city as iconic as New York validates both personal and collective struggles. The joy of Mamdani’s achievements is tempered by the sobering reality that progress often meets resistance, and that the persistent undercurrent of racism in society can manifest even as history is being made.

Like Mamdani, my career has been marked not only by professional achievements and accomplishment but also by challenges unique to the immigrant experience. From facing overt and subtle forms of racism in the workplace to constantly having to prove my worth amidst cultural skepticism, the path forward has been anything but smooth. Mamdani’s victory stands as a testament to the resilience shared across immigrant communities, that our voices, experiences, and dreams are intrinsic to the American story, no matter how resistant the status quo. In our achievements, and in Mamdani’s historic win, is a clarion call: that the future belongs to those who dare to break barriers and push for justice, equity, and an inclusive vision for all.

Zohran Mamdani’s mayoralty is more than a moment in New York’s political saga; it is an inspiration to all who have endured adversity as outsiders, and a promise that a progressive, compassionate, and brilliantly diverse future is not only possible, but inevitable.

Meanwhile, Your mind senses what’s coming next.

Recent neuroscience research suggests that your brain has the remarkable ability to anticipate future events before they occur. This predictive power helps humans navigate complex environments, make decisions, and respond quickly to potential threats or opportunities.

The brain achieves this by continuously processing patterns, memories, and sensory input. It doesn’t just react to the present—it uses past experiences and ongoing signals to forecast what is likely to happen next. Specialized neural circuits in areas such as the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus are involved in this anticipatory activity, allowing the mind to prepare for outcomes milliseconds before conscious awareness.

Studies using brain imaging and EEG have shown that the brain can predict decisions, actions, and even sensory events before a person is consciously aware of them. This explains phenomena such as intuition, “gut feelings,” and rapid reflexes in high-stakes situations. It also sheds light on why some people seem to sense danger or opportunities ahead of time.

Understanding this predictive capacity has implications for health, decision-making, and artificial intelligence. For example, it could help researchers develop interventions for neurological disorders where anticipatory processing is impaired, or improve machine learning models inspired by human brain prediction.

While the idea that the brain knows the future may sound like science fiction, it’s actually a reflection of the mind’s incredible ability to process information, recognize patterns, and simulate possible outcomes. Our brains are constantly running simulations, quietly predicting what comes next, giving us a subtle edge in daily life.

This discovery emphasizes that human consciousness is only the tip of a predictive iceberg—the brain is always one step ahead, preparing for the future before we even realize it.

Lastly, My Photo of the Day-History of Art

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Highlights of My Professional Career

In my more than 40 years of professional career, I have experienced both working rank and file, as well as supervising the work of subordinates. I have worked in four private firms and the Federal Government, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), where I retired. I enjoyed the challenges and difficulties of both types of job situations. This is the highlights of my work experience story.

My first job after completing my doctorate degree was a Chemist for Chemagro Corporation in Kansas City, Missouri. It was a subsidiary of Bayer Corporation, a German conglomerate. I worked for the analytical chemistry department comprised of about fifty people; half that number was either chemists or biologists. My specific task was to develop analytical methods for the detection of pesticide residues in plant and animal tissues. I worked on my own, similar to six other bench chemists, and we all reported to the same supervisor.

The firm sponsored my visa conversion from a student to a permanent resident, and I was able to legally work and reside in the United States with my family. The company generously took care of its employees. At the end of each successful year, everyone received a 13th month salary bonus. The employees and their families celebrated wonderful annual Christmas parties in a downtown Kansas City hotel, with dancing and free drinks for the whole night.

Inasmuch as I enjoyed and loved working for Chemagro for five years, I found a new job which offered a substantially higher pay. Due to my exemplary work performance, my supervisor preferred and lobbied for me to stay with the company. I had to turn him down because they could not match the package presented by my new employer. It was also a chance for me and my family to move and live in the US west coast, where the mild winter climate is bearable compared to the Midwest.

My next job was at the agricultural research division of Shell Development Company in Modesto, California. I was a Research Chemist, and again I worked individually, same as five other chemists who all reported to a supervisor. My specific duty was similar to my previous job. I worked for them for five years, until the company decided to get out of the pesticide business. They closed their research facility affecting the jobs of more than 200 employees.

My third industrial job was with the agricultural research division of Stauffer chemical company, located in Richmond, California. I was a Senior Research Chemist doing the same project as my two previous jobs. I worked for twelve continuous years for the company, with outstanding annual job performance. I became a Principal Research Chemist, the highest attainable non-supervisory position.

One day in 1986, my supervisor informed me that my job had been eliminated, and I had one day to vacate the facility. It was the most dreadful lay off experience in my life. I felt anger, sadness and humiliation to be dismissed from work with one day notice, after all the years of hard work invested for the company. This was an unforgettable incident and was the gloomiest point in my professional career.
The company terminated sixty research employees, who were upset of the bad news.

One of the chemists was distressed and expressed his outrageous anger by threatening the company and its workers. He told his supervisor of his intention to bomb and burn down the laboratory. He was immediately escorted by the security staff out of the building and into his car. He was informed to leave behind his personal belongings; they will be mailed to his residence. He was warned never to show up again near the company premises or risk getting arrested.

My supervisor was kind and allowed me to take my time to pack up my belongings. It took me two days to clear up my workplace, after toiling for a long period in the same jobsite. We were provided clerical help and office space, in preparation to look for another job, such as updating our resumes, and using the computer and copy machine. We were given six weeks of separation pay plus benefits.

Fortunately, with the help of a friend who is a Church parishioner, I found another job thirty days after leaving Stauffer chemical company. He hired me as a senior research chemist and as a group leader with two technicians to supervise. It was in the same field as my expertise in my previous three jobs spanning the last twenty one years. My new employer was Chevron Chemical Company, and which was located in the same area as my former employer.

This job gave me the introduction and basic knowledge of managing the work of subordinates. I worked for Chevron Company for four and a half years. The company decided to consolidate their research facilities in Texas, and lay off all its research employees. This time I had enough distress and agony from working, and eventually getting laid off from several private companies. To avoid going through any more miserable layoffs, I made a vow that I would never again work for a private company.

In my work experiences, there were noticeable and unavoidable jobsite occurrences. One can never miss the office romantic relationships between co-workers, both illicit and permitted. Though it was frowned upon, there was a boss and staff relationship, which was used as a ploy to get ahead in the company. Some relationships had chemistry, no pun intended, but some never worked out. Oftentimes, there was a sense of distrust among bench chemists for some workers who unjustly obtained preferred work assignments.

Some employees resorted to bribing superiors to get special privileges, such as being able to attend choice conferences and meetings in exciting venues or locations. Likewise, politics was always present at the worksites. It was during an era when various forms of harassment, equal opportunity and discrimination laws were not yet enforced in the workplace. Occasionally, an unexpected chemical explosion happens in a laboratory setting, where luckily no one got seriously hurt.

In the three private companies I worked for, I was able to publish scientific journals for some of the research studies and analytical methods which I developed for the respective companies of Chemagro, Shell Development and Stauffer.

After deciding and making a vow to avoid working in the private sector, I made my new goal which was either to work for the state of California, or the Federal government in Washington, D.C. Four months after I lost my job in Chevron, I was lucky and joyful to be hired by the Food and Drug Administration as a review chemist in the fall of 1990.

In 1994 I was promoted as an Expert Research Chemist with a GS-14 rating. My expertise was on Anti-malarial and Anti-parasitic drug products. In 1997, I was again deservingly promoted to Chemistry team leader, supervising the work of six Chemistry reviewers including five with doctorate degrees.

As team leader, I was responsible for prioritizing, assigning, and assuring the technical accuracy of all chemistry, manufacturing and control issues for all new drug applications submitted to the Division of Anti-Infective Drug Products, Center of New Drugs.

It was part of my responsibility to give advice, instruct and promote high morale and teamwork in my group. My work in the FDA is confidential, until the drug patent on the products I worked on has expired. There are manufacturing supplements that I have approved that are now open for the public in the Internet.

In 1998, I won the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Award. The citation reads, “For outstanding accomplishments in fostering the objectives of the EEO Program by hiring minorities and encouraging their professional growth while providing excellent leadership.” I have received numerous certificates of appreciation, awards in leadership and communications, commendation for teamwork and excellence in the accomplishment of the FDA mission. I have also received several letters of appreciation from private industry for my review work.

There are many good things working as rank and file while enjoying doing one’s job individually. It is a humbling, satisfying and productive experience, if one can work in harmony with one’s immediate supervisor. Working individually develops one’s skills in goal setting and scheduling. But in general, the financial rewards are less than a person who has supervisory responsibilities.

Managing the work of others has its challenges. Moreover, it develops one’s skill in handling and developing people, and the compensation rewards and benefits are better. Due to additional duties, responsibilities and leadership, supervisory work can be more stressful than working as a subordinate. However, supervisory jobs give one more personal growth and satisfaction, based on my personal experience. My work in FDA as a team leader managing the work of six scientists had been the happiest and rewarding work experience in my career in Chemistry. You might also like: