Jane Fonda has been arrested five times since she started Fire Drill Fridays. ICYMI, the Grace and Frankie actor has been engaging in civil disobedience in weekly demonstrations at Capitol Hill in an effort to demand action from lawmakers on the climate emergency. Inspired by the youth climate strikes, Fonda told Stephen Colbert she felt she "wasn't doing enough."
"Well, humankind is facing the greatest crisis that we've ever faced and there were all these young students that were sacrificing a lot and working so hard," she said, explaining what inspired her decision to head to Washington D.C. and start protesting government inaction on climate change.
The Late Show host asked Fonda if the police were starting to get fed up of her. "Look, I'm white and I'm famous," she replied. "What happens to me is different than what would happen if I was a person of colour and I wasn't famous."
If you're wondering why Fonda and her famous friends are getting arrested, she gave a very succinct summation on the reasons behind it. "We don't do civil disobedience as a first effort but we've been petitioning and writing and marching and begging the government and they don't hear," she said. "We've used every lever of democracy and so we have to take a step further and that's why we're engaging in civil disobedience and risking getting arrested."
Does she have any advice for fellow climate activists engaging in civil disobedience who risk getting arrested? "You wear layers of clothes if it's winter and you may spend the night in jail, you want a lot of layers so you can use them for pillows," she told Colbert. "All you need is a photo ID that's up to date and $50. If you don't have $50 we give it to you."
Topics Activism Stephen Colbert
