by I first heard about Jane Fonda’s new book on “The Drew Barrymore show”.
I have been obsessed with Jane Fonda since I was a teenager. She’s a brilliant actress, author, activist, feminist, and we’ve all heard about her workout videos. (Did you know that she started that business to make money for her husband-at-the-time’s political campaign for economic democracy?) I binge-watch Frankie and Grace the second it comes out. (The seventh and final season airs in 2021). I have watched the series Newsroom twice. I think Meryl Streep said it best in this video, when she talks about how present Jane is, and how generous. There is no one that makes a conversation about climate change more watchable than Jane Fonda. She is knowledgeable, clear and hopeful; and isn’t hope what we need right now?
Her latest book What Can I do? My Path from Climate Despair to Action is an account of her personal journey from depression to activism. Her book is written with such an urgent and somehow joy-filled pace, that her passion ignites our own. Each chapter gets specific about how the climate crisis affects one aspect of our world such as oceans, forests, women, and the military etc. The book is full of resources, so take notes, and get ready to google.
While protesting, Jane wore her now infamous red coat every Friday to symbolize fire. She also says it is the last piece of new clothing she will buy. She has since stopped dying her hair blonde because of the chemicals used.
Inspired by Canada’s Naomi Klein’s book On Fire and Greta Thunberg’s Fridays For Future, Jane decided to use her celebrity as a platform. She worked with Greenpeace and together they created Fire Drill Fridays. Jane and her friends, climate change experts and a fast-growing number of first-time activists, performed acts of civil disobedience and risked getting arrested. They did this every Friday for one year while Jane lived in Washington D.C. Jane was arrested five times, and spent one night in jail. It now continues on-line every Friday. This Friday, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is the special guest. (!!!) Register here.
In this interview Jane spells it all out to Eva Langoria. This is one of the most quotable videos I’ve seen on the topic. I took pages of notes. If I had to choose one quote to share with you, I’d paraphrase my favorites, and say this:
“The act of putting your body in alignment with your deepest values is so empowering…What we all need to do to affect climate change is stand together…Women know in their deepest bones the importance of interdependence…A collective crisis requires a collective solution. People can change, and we can change history.”
Jane’s loudest call to action is that we fight to reduce fossil fuel emissions by half by 2030.
Jane was invited to speak at C2 Montreal this morning. She spoke about her iconic career and criticized our government for granting permits to allow the building of the pipelines in Alberta. She said “I’ll never trust a good-looking liberal again.”
She also said that she doesn’t want any regrets when she’s lying on her deathbed, and plans to keep fighting climate change for the rest of her life.
“I want to feel I’ve done my best.” She says that as human beings we are meant “to become our best self.” Jane wants to be able to say to her grandchildren “I did everything I could to make the world a better place for you.”
She ended by saying “I love you Canada. I love you Montreal.” We love you too Jane.
