Jane Fonda is not playing when it comes to climate change. The “Grace and Frankie” star (and my new hero) was arrested Friday outside the U.S. Capitol as part of her promised weekly protests called Fire Drill Fridays inspired by Swedish activist Greta Thunberg’s Fridays for Future climate strikes.
This is her second Friday in a row being arrested in front of the Capitol—and she ain’t show up alone this time. Her co-star on “Grace and Frankie” Sam Waterston (or as others at Earther and Gizmodo call him, the “Law and Order guy”) joined Fonda. Capitol Police arrested him, too! This was homie’s first arrest ever, according to NBC News producer Frank Thorp who was on the scene. To make things better, Fonda was arrested looking like the goddamn queen she is. Take a look.
I typically don’t care much for celebrity takes on climate change. I appreciate it when they use their platforms to bring attention to the issue, of course, but that usually involves giant lump sums of money, and something about that just doesn’t sit well with me. Money can’t solve everything, man. What Fonda is doing, however, is so incredibly brave and badass.
As an older white woman who also happens to be a celebrity, she’s using her privilege to bring attention to the issue. She’s also standing in solidarity with others who face arrest at these climate change protests. More and more people are using civil disobedience and direct action to protest climate change or take action to prevent it. Arrest, unfortunately, is typically a part of that deal.
And Fonda’s taken a page out of Thunberg’s book by taking these protests directly to the people who have the power to do something about the climate crisis: our elected officials. The climate movement needs young people, but it also needs older community members. To be real, we need everyone. And Fonda is doing a hell of a job bringing all types of people—even the Grace and Frankie/Law and Order guy—into the mix.