Mahmood Mamdani on Colonialism, Citizenship & the Postcolonial State | NYBALF 2026

Mahmood Mamdani joins Kọ́lá Túbọ̀sún at NYBALF 2026 for a wide-ranging conversation on colonial rule, political identity, citizenship, Uganda and what independence did not dismantle. Recorded September 19, 2026, at Harlem Stage, The Gatehouse, as part of the New York Black & African Literature Festival. MAHMOOD MAMDANI: SLOW POISON In conversation with Kọ́lá Túbọ̀sún Moving between personal history, political theory and the history of the African state, Mamdani reflects on how colonial political categories survived independence, how distinctions between native, settler, migrant and citizen became embedded in institutions, and why understanding the present requires looking beyond individual rulers to the political structures they inherited. The conversation also turns to Uganda, political violence, the relationship between historical explanation and moral judgment, the responsibilities of intellectual work, and the question of what it means to retain the will to change the world. MAHMOOD MAMDANI Mahmood Mamdani is a scholar of colonialism, citizenship and political violence whose work has reshaped debates about the modern African state, political identity and the institutional legacies of empire. His books include Citizen and Subject, When Victims Become Killers, Good Muslim, Bad Muslim and Neither Settler nor Native. KỌ́LÁ TÚBỌ̀SÚN Kọ́lá Túbọ̀sún is a writer, linguist, translator and cultural critic whose work engages language, literature, technology and African cultural life. CHAPTERS 0:00 Introduction: Mahmood Mamdani and Slow Poison 1:50 Why this book, and why now: writing himself into the story 4:27 An apology for Amin? The book against its headlines 6:45 First encounters: Amin at Makerere, Museveni in Dar es Salaam 10:12 Decolonization, and how Amin was made 14:57 Why Amin was popular: kingship, land and a truth commission 20:08 Native and migrant: the colonial question independence inherited 26:33 Naipaul, Kampala and an optimism that had to be willed 28:43 Did Museveni change? Power over conviction 32:23 Reception in Uganda, and Israel's long role 38:05 Is American nativism the same story? 40:40 Audience Q&A: Museveni and the generations, state pan-Africanism 45:11 African studies: the world from our own vantage point 50:20 Closing question: optimism as a will to change the world The conversation formed part of NYBALF 2026: THE VILLAGE IN THE BOOK: LITERATURE AND THE NEAR, an edition of the festival exploring what literature owes to the places, languages and communities nearest to it. NYBALF 2026 September 18–20, 2026 Harlem, New York Presented by Harlem Stage. Learn more about NYBALF and explore the 2026 archive: https://blackandafricanlitfestny.com Follow NYBALF: Instagram / X: @nyblackaflitfest ABOUT NYBALF The New York Black & African Literature Festival is a Harlem-based literary platform connecting writers, poets, thinkers, artists and readers across Africa and the global Black diaspora. Through conversations, performances, readings, workshops and public gatherings, NYBALF creates space for Black literary traditions to meet across languages, geographies and histories without being reduced to a single story. Its work continues beyond the annual festival through an expanding archive of conversations, performances, books and ideas. Filmed at Harlem Stage, The Gatehouse. © 2026 New York Black & African Literature Festival. #NYBALF2026 #MahmoodMamdani #AfricanPolitics #Postcolonialism #HarlemStage