What Mamdani's win taught me about collective grief

I wasn't prepared for my reaction when Mamdani won. I got on my knees and sobbed. Gutturally. Loudly. It wasn't about the outcome. It was about the grief I didn't know I was holding. His win offered hope that felt like a salve to a wound I couldn't name. Countless people felt personally impacted by a NYC election despite living thousands of miles away. The memes were hilarious, but they revealed something deeper: we're all connected through collective grief that demands to be witnessed and moved.