Newark-born grassroots activist and community leader Anthony Diaz announced his campaign for mayor on the heels of his trip to COP 26.

Diaz said his mayoral campaign message is simple: Organize. The priority for a Diaz administration is to use people power to reorganize the policies, procedures, and funding for public safety, the health department, and businesses and developers who chose to do business in the city and with the city. The aim is to put an end to decades of failed neoliberal policies that derailed the city’s Black and Latino revolution of the late 60s and early 70s.

Diaz participated in a major protest at the MTV music awards.

“Old impractical ideologies won’t save our people. The city needs an elected official who is not afraid to say that we need to abolish the police. The city needs an elected official who will say that the reason why there are eight shootings in Newark is because of intergenerational poverty and systemic capitalist oppression. We have undoubtedly entered a new era where everyone can see blatant hypocrisy of the American dream. We need an elected official that is willing to be honest with his community when it comes to the natural resources of the city. The solution to all our problems is to organize. Not later but now. Organize towards liberation. Organize.”

Diaz is running against incumbent Newark Mayor Ras Baraka. West Ward District Leader Sheila Montague is also running for mayor in 2022.