Jane Fonda & Fire Drill Fridays: Engaging in Peaceful Protest
It seems fitting that icon and activist Jane Fonda would be the individual to start a new wave of protests, this time to combat the harsh realities of global climate change. Fonda is inspired by Swedish climate activist, Greta Thunberg, who’s name, at a young age, has become renowned for all the right reasons. Fonda tackled her self-proclaimed depression because of the state of the environment in the way that has always seemed to combat issues needing immediate attention: by mobilizing the people in civil disobedience.
So on January 3, 2020, my 33rd birthday, I decided to make the trip to Washington D.C. with a friend and colleague to stand with so many others under the unification of protest at Fire Drill Friday. I had been to a Friday protest earlier in December and was so moved that I knew that I needed to make my way back. As a high school teacher, I know that there is a great need to instill in students the desire to be engaged in the world around them and the issues facing our global society. So, what better opportunity to practice what I teach.
What became so clear over the past 4 months of listening to speakers via live-stream and in-person each Friday, and the preceding Thursday Teach-Ins, is that the climate issue is complex. Each week, a different aspect of the climate crisis was discussed, complete with experts in the field, ranging from public health and jobs to deforestation and food justice.
The January 3rd edition focused on the holding fossil fuel companies accountable, which is akin to the underdog eliminating the giant. The politics are steeped in connections between policy makers and the fossil fuel industry. However, Fonda opened the demonstration by stating, “When it comes to tackling climate change, US politicians have rarely talked about keeping fossil fuels in the ground. Until now.” As if on cue, the crowd erupted. Each speaker who followed shared personal and moving accounts of how the climate crisis has affected them and the groups whom they represent. Director and activist Josh Fox reiterated the message that was woven through each speech: “we must mobilize.”
The scientists from these very fossil fuel companies knew more than 30 years ago that the burning fossil fuels, drilling, and fracking placed the global atmosphere on a collision course for destruction. However, they remained silent. So now the global community has been forced to shout. Week in and out, Fonda and other speakers, including lawyers, teachers, bus drivers, actors, and leaders of indigenous people, pulled off what seems impossible in today’s world: hope for progress.
Even as I type this Australia is burning; millions of acres have been destroyed along with half a billion wildlife and the displacement of countless Australians. The United States alone has been rocked by record setting hurricanes. Typhoons have ripped through Asian island nations. The continent of Africa has been ravaged by drought and the climate refugee crisis is just beginning. The evidence is everywhere. This is not an issue that can be divided because of politics, gender, culture, or religion. Unity is the only way to give the planet and its inhabitants a chance.
As the ball dropped on January 1 to mark a new decade, the magnitude of the progress that has to be made in the next 10 years is daunting. The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change published a report two years ago that stated carbon dioxide emissions need to be drastically reduced in order to keep global warming from reaching above 1.5 degrees Celsius. There is no longer time for moderation. Measures have to be taken to stop all new fossil fuel drilling and move toward renewable energy sources, while supporting current coal and other fossil fuel workers as they transition into clean energy jobs. Simply put, we need to support the Green New Deal.
The mantra of Fire Drill Fridays is clear: Vote. Speak. Act. As the rally cry goes, the oceans are rising and so are we!
GREEN ZINE contributors are volunteers amplifying their voices on environmental and social justice issues. Views expressed may or may not represent the voice, opinions, or policy stances of Greenpeace. Instead, writing on GREEN ZINE reflects the creative brains of individuals.
