RabaeAt 28, Rama Duhaji will be the youngest Lady New York City ever – pointed out by her husband Zohran Mamdani who won the Mayoral Race on Mayoral Laca on Mayoral Evening.
And in his victory speech, the mayor-elect had a special shout out for his wife who was standing next to him.
“And to my wonderful wife, Rama, Hayati,” he said, using the Arabic word for “my life”. “There is no one I would rather have by my side at this moment, and at every moment.”
DUWAJI is a New York-based artist with Syrian roots often explored by Syrians His work has appeared on BBC News, and in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Vice and the London Modern Museum.
“Not only my wife; she is an amazing artist who deserves to be known on her own terms,” wrote Mamdani in a post on 12 May, which they announced three months ago.
“Omg He’s real,” Duawaji joked in a comment on that post.
The couple met on Dating App Hinge, “So there is hope in dating apps,” Mamdani said in an interview with bulkark.
Getty ImagesUntil recently, she was seen during her husband’s election campaign, leading opponents who claimed that the 33-year-old state enforcer was “hiding” his wife.
His absence was not recognized, given that US candidates often put their wives aside to show their commitment to family values.
Mamdani addressed the criticism of his wife’s disappearance in his May post, which included a series of photos showing their marriage at the New York City Clerk’s office.
“If you look at Twitter today, or any day for that matter, you know how brutal politics can be,” he wrote.
“I usually brush up, even if it’s death threats or calls for me to be exiled. But it’s different when it’s someone you love, but not my family.”
Duwaji has chosen to stay out of the spotlight — even as her husband’s profile sheds light — but is said to be a driving force behind the scenes, according to CNN.
He is one of the finalized identities of Mamdani, including the bold iconography and font used in his yellow, orange and blue campaign ads, it said.
Despite most steering clear of the cameras, several of Dwaji’s friends spoke about him in interviews amid his role in a Mamdani administration.
“She is our modern day Princess Diana,” a friend, Hasain Bhatti, declared in the New York Times last month.
Some described DUWAJI as excited but overwhelmed by the growing attention, the NY Post reported.
Getty ImagesDUWAJI graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University before earning a master’s degree in illustration from the visual arts school in New York City.
“Using choreography and movement, Rama explores the nuances of fraternal and communal experience,” MS DUWAJI’s professional website reads.
Most of his work is in black and white, and depicts scenes from the Arab world. Ms Duwaji herself was born in Texas and is ethnically Syrian, a campaign spokesperson told The New York Times.
In 2022, his works appeared in the World World Service documentary “Who killed my grandfather” which investigated the assassination of a Yemeni politician in 1974.
Some of her works listed on Instagram criticize “American Imperialism,” what she calls Israel’s war crimes and criticize the Palestinians, changing some of her husband’s policy positions. Israel vehemently denies accusations of genocide in Gaza.
His works also show the support of Mahmoud Khalil, a graduate of the University of Columbia that the Trump Administration wants to expel the claims that the “antisemitism” of the Jews.
The Brooklyn-based artist has spent most of the Coronavirus Pandemic in Dubai, where his family lives, according to an April interview with the website That.
In that interview, he was asked about recent events in the Middle East, the return to the White House of Donald Trump and the sharp uptick in immigration attacks.
“I’m not going to lie, things are dark right now in NYC,” he said. “I’m worried about my friends and family, and things feel completely in my hands.”
“With so many people being destroyed and silenced by fear, all I can do is use my voice to speak about the US and Palestine and Syria as much as I can,” he added.
He was also asked about the responsibility that artists have to speak about global issues.
“The duty of an artist as far as I’m concerned is to reflect the times,” he said, quoting musician Nina Simone.
“I believe that everyone has a responsibility to speak out against injustice, and art has such an ability to spread it,” he continued.
“I don’t think everyone should make political work, but art is always political in how it’s made, pointed out. Even making art seems like a reaction to the world.”


