NEWARK, NJ—Anthony Diaz is the co-founder of Newark Water Coalition (NWC), an organization established in 2018 to ensure access to clean water for Newark residents. Though the group focuses on climate justice—police brutality, housing and other social justice issues are part of their fight for “the oppressed".

Recently, Public Square caught up with Mr. Diaz following his trip to the 26th annual ‘United Nations Conference of the Parties. Also known as COP26, the meeting was held in Glasgow, United Kingdom from October 31 through November 12; where a cross section of representatives from over than 100 nations, including some as far away as Nigeria, Colombia, and Guyana, gathered to call for concrete resolutions to the climate crisis. The central goal of the conference rested on securing net-zero global emissions and reducing global temperature to 1.5 degrees.

In the end, agreeing countries adopted the “Glasgow Climate Pact,” which requests that nations "revisit and strengthen the 2030 targets in their nationally determined contributions as necessary to align with the  [2015] Paris Agreement temperature goal by the end of 2022.”

The pact also called for a "phasedown of unabated coal" and the reduction of "inefficient" fossil-fuel subsidies, or government actions that incentivize the use of fossil fuel energy by consumers. And the document encourages wealthy nations to honor their promise to invest $100 billion a year to help developing countries adapt to climate change. These are just some plans advanced to reduce global emissions to "net zero" by 2050.

Though a groundbreaking decision to some, critics say the pact does not go far enough. In this interview, Diaz shares his perspective on the truth behind the performative actions of government and Big Business and gets to the root of what matters: People and Community.

Public Square: What drew you to this work?

Anthony Diaz: So, I always laugh because I was never an environmental justice person. I thought that environmental justice was for white people. Then in 2018, it was brought up that the quality of Newark's water was really bad. And of course, the mayor at the time came out and said, 'hey, there's no problems with our water. Our water is fine.’Then a few months later, they started handing out water filters. And we're like,

“Well, if everything is fine, why are you giving out water filters?”

Our co-founder at the time suggested we have a community meeting and get people together, and I was like, 'nobody cares. [But] alright, let's do a meeting.' So we put out a call out for a meeting, and then 30 people show up, and I'm like, 'Oh, wow, people do care about this.' And that kind of was the beginning of the Newark Water Coalition.

How did you come to attend COP26? What did you expect going in?

The Newark Water Coalition is part of an organization called the U.S Climate Action Network. It's made up of all of these NGOs and big groups and community organizations across the United States that work on climate change. I applied for COP26 after a friend told me about it. I was really excited to go, and then I got there, and I'm like:

“This feels kind of weird and evil.”

The best example is one of the first presentations that I went to, which was obviously at the Water Pavilion. They were talking about how businesses need to put water line items in their budgets — whether it's abundance or scarcity — because this will have a direct correlation with their profits, which was disgusting to hear. I'm not in the business of water. I'm in the business of giving out a free resource. That was one part of it.

The other part of it was how I got to meet local organizers and people from Indigenous communities, and I got to learn about their issues and challenges. There was also a People's COP 26 outside of the regular COP that I got to attend some sessions of, which were really interesting. It was all of these different events, and feelings, and beings, and sharing. I also got to share some stories of what's going on in Newark. You know, it's funny how, when I have to tell people how we can't really drink tap water because there's lead in our water, and they're just like, 'what do you mean? You're from America. America is number one, right? USA, USA!' It was really interesting to break that perception versus reality. 

There was one event filled with indigenous people of Southern America…where they were lighting a sacred fire, and they were talking half in Spanish and then half in the dialect of their culture. Now, I'm half Black, half El Salvadorian.  I don't know much about my culture, to be honest with you. And I cried. I literally just cried.

It was like a spiritual moment for me. That wasn't a presentation done in the COP center. But it was a part of COP, and it was a moment that I will cherish for the rest of my life, that I would have never had the opportunity to have, had I not gone there.

What do you think about the agreement reached? Do you think it went far enough?

No, absolutely not. 

The thing is, when you're there, you see what it really is. When I was there for the first day, I was like, 'Wow, you folks really just talk to hear yourselves talk.' I didn't understand why they were taking everything so seriously when they didn't plan on executing anything real or bold. And a lot of that was based on Biden's speech of, like, how the United States is going to be the Climate Leader. And yet, I saw a headline the other day where [the Biden administration] announced one of the largest offshore drilling auctions, days after COP26. He said that we wouldn't invest in fossil fuel projects internationally, but domestically we're still doing the same thing. How can you say one thing and then just be a hypocrite?

When I saw the Glasgow pact, all I could think was, 'Wow, you guys really don't get it.' And I think one of the things that Climate Action Network was fighting for was the human rights component and how it was being left out of all these big conversations. My perspective as a community organizer is that you really begin to understand that community is the only way or only solution out of this. We must organize and become self-sufficient because it is evident that the people in power will not put us as that priority. I say humanity because, ultimately, the planet will still be here in the end, whether we are on it or not.

“What we are fighting for is not to save the planet, but it's to save humanity.”

How do you think this agreement impacts us here in New Jersey, and specifically Newark? What's at stake?

So, one of the things that I realized is that everyone is talking about climate. And one of the things that Biden said at COP26 was how all of the financing is going to come through. We see that the infrastructure bill was signed. He said, 'private investors are going to finance this, banks are going to finance this.' So, what we're going to see in the next few years is all of these private green solutions as the way forward so that people can make money.

“That's just green capitalism.”

So now, New Jersey gets dollars for the infrastructure package, but they also get money for things like transportation too. But then, when you bring it down to a local level, it means, like, different buses for New Jersey Transit— zero-emission buses for New Jersey Transit. It means Newark gets funding to remediate some of its flooding problems. 

And on the face value, it's great that all these funding mechanisms now kick in to remediate the issues that we have. However, my biggest concern — and this is why I think it's important for organizers to be involved at these international talks and at the local level — is we need to make sure that there's a level of accountability there. We need to make sure that the money [will] fund the things that need to be funded. But how do we know that's happening if things aren't being done in a transparent manner?

So now that these funding mechanisms are kicking in, we as grassroots organizations can hold our feet to the fire. Now, there shouldn't be flooding problems if you're getting billions of dollars to remediate it. There shouldn't be lead in our schools and in our homes if you're getting billions of dollars to remediate this.

It's about making those connections and making sure that our community is educated on what's being funded on what's coming down the pipeline so that our expectations are realistic. That way, we can hold people accountable.

Your mission statement says that the Newark Water Coalition "shows up with clean water in Newark" where it's needed. Can you talk about your recent efforts on that front and what it takes to ensure residents have that access to clean water?

I think the number one thing is education. It burns me up when people buy water when you can get this water for free, and you can get better water for free. You shouldn't be paying for water in the city of Newark. But obviously, given that this is a city of 300,000 people and we're just a grassroots organization with a very finite budget, we're doing the best that we can with what we have.

We used to buy water at ShopRite. But during the lockdown, ShopRite told us we couldn't buy water anymore. So, we got these water filtration units from a 501(c)(3), which we can connect to any hose line. And we can pump out as much clean water as we want. We have to pay for the water bill, but it's not going to a store. So, it's free in that sense. As long as people have jugs, they can come to our locations and fill up with water.

It's my dream to reach every home, contact every person, and educate them. We do canvassing; we can do flyering. We let people know about events. We're trying to ramp up stuff. We're currently looking at an office space so that we can hold more events so that we can educate people — not just about the water issue, but just all of these interconnecting struggles.

“When we say water is life, you know, that's not a throwaway phrase for us.”

I realized that we have normalized too much in our communities —especially in the Black and Brown communities — that isn't normal. How can I begin to talk to you about environmental justice or the water issue if you don't even have food on the table? Or if you don't have a place to stay? Or if you're afraid of getting shot by the cops every day? Because for us, like I said at the beginning, I thought this was all about white people and tree huggers. But then when you realize, 'wow, this disproportionately affects our communities, way more than their communities,' we need to be talking about it.

Do you believe that local or state officials have been receptive or supportive of your efforts?

I can tell you for a fact they have not been supportive because we are a reminder that there's still a problem. I don't want to say that we're the bad guys because I don't believe that. I think that ultimately, we're all on the same side, and we just have different methods of getting there.

One of their biggest issues as state and local officials was that they kept saying, 'we don't want this to seem like another Flint. This is not another Flint.' But honestly, for two years, they've done nothing. It wasn't until the Water Coalition came around and forced their hand to make changes that they actually began to make the changes. I looked at the lead results, and they're pretty good now, but there are still homes that have 100 parts per billion, 50 parts per billion [of lead in the water]… And then when we talk about clean water for Newark, we can't ignore the Passaic River and what a toxic dump that is… and right next to our reservoir is a  superfund site. We can't forget these things just because the lead service lines have been changed.

”For us, the fight not only continues, but it evolves and becomes different things.

And that's how we begin to stay relevant.”

Coming out of COP26, is there anything that makes your feel hopeful?

Coming out of COP26, I'm hopeful for international solidarity. It sounds kind of cliche to say, but "Air is air. Land is land. Water is water." And when you realize that, and when you can oversimplify people's problems to that and not get into the, 'well, my government says this, or your government says that or my elected official says this, or this is the way we have organized' — Are you organizing for land? Are you organizing for air? Are you organizing for water? Then we can talk because your problems are my problems. Once we realize that we're one and the same, then we can begin to move as one. That's what we really need on this. On all fronts is a unified voice.

One thing we are planning to do next is start an Organizing School, because we understand that we have to train the next level of organizers to continue the fight. I just finished reading Malcolm X's autobiography, and something that I realize about a lot of these great historical figures is that they left a huge shadow and legacy to fill. But if I wanted to plug what they left into something today, where do I plug it in? What did they leave behind in that sense? I invite people to join the NWC, and what I really hope for is to create a long-lasting institution for change.

Since our interview with Anthony Diaz, the NWC founder has announced his bid for mayor of Newark. A native of Newark and a longtime activist, Diaz has run for political office before, including candidacy for an at-large seat of the Essex County Board of Chosen Freeholders in 2020 and at-large representative on the Newark Public Schools Board of Education.

As Newark anticipates the  May 2022 citywide municipal elections, Diaz faces a tough battle in challenging the incumbent, Mayor Ras Baraka. In this campaign video, he positions himself as the revolutionary candidate of change who will call out "intergenerational poverty and systemic capitalist oppression" as the source of gun violence and other public safety concerns in the city.  More coverage to come on the mayoral and citywide races in the new year.