There were enough ‘f’ words spewed to fill a football field. “Fossil fuels have got to go,” was one of the rallying cries Jane Fonda, Sally Field and dozens of other peaceful protestors shouted in unison on a rainy day on the Southeast Lawn of the US Capital on Friday, December 13th. But perhaps the most memorable f-word was this four-letter one – FIRE –as in the name of this weekly demonstration to save the planet, FIRE DRILL FRIDAYS, and the word heard ‘round the world in Greta Thunberg’s September 2019 speech at the World Economic Forum, when she said, “Our house is on fire.”
And, truly, wasn’t Friday the 13th the perfect day to protest together? A day rooted in witchcraft stemming from the Middle Ages when the goddess of love and fertility, Frigga, was branded a witch and banished to a mountaintop. It was believed that every Friday, she would meet with eleven other witches and the devil himself (13 in total) and plot terrible things to occur in the coming weeks. But would a goddess of love truly want to plot horrible things against others? Talk about a ‘witchhunt!’
And it seemed equally illogical that dozens of protestors should even have to gather together this, and every Friday, to protect our planet, a planet that feeds and houses us all. But with the US Capital as a backdrop, that’s exactly what needed to be done, as an increasing number of policies and bills have been recently passed to further damage our planet, under the Trump Administration's claim that climate change is a “hoax.” And it was equally as clear that not even the pouring rain could put out a fire of this magnitude because, as Jane Fonda put it, the climate crisis is not an isolated issue. “It involves every part of our economy and society.”
As Fonda, the founder and organizer of Fire Drill Fridays, stood on a stage just above a poster displaying a cross-cultural legion of women and men that read, GOOD JOBS FOR A GREEN FUTURE, she talked about how this day was just one of a number of demonstrations which began in September, 2019, where scientists, movement leaders, experts, activists, Indigenous leaders, community members and youth have come together to share their stories and demand that action be taken against climate change before it's too late. Further, to ensure the topic and its connection to the climate crisis is thoroughly explained, she hosts a live-streamed “Teach-In” with a panel of experts each Thursday evening before the demonstration, for the public to attend virtually.
“Our climate is in crisis,” Fonda went on to say, while standing in a red long coat with a black and white houndstooth cap under an umbrella. “Scientists are shouting an urgent warning: We have little more than a decade to take bold, ambitious action to transition our economy off of fossil fuels and onto clean, renewable energy. We need a Green New Deal to mobilize our government and every sector of the economy to tackle the overlapping crises of climate change, inequality, and structural racism at the scale and speed our communities require. We need and deserve a world beyond fossil fuels while creating millions of family-sustaining, union jobs, and prioritizing justice and equity for working people and communities of color on the frontlines of climate disaster and fossil fuel exploitation, so the clean energy transformation leaves nobody behind.”
Then, renowned actress and activist Sally Field took to the podium. “I am a mother. I am a grandmother. The time is now,” the actress told protesters. “We cannot sit back in our comfort zones, on our couches, and wonder, ‘What can we do?’ We can get out. We can do something, in the rain. Whatever it takes,” she added. “This is a possibility that is actually happening, we need to get out of our comfort zones now!”
And with that protestors and journalists followed Fonda and Field as they descended the stage and walked to the front of the Capitol steps across a muddy field behind a banner that read, ‘WE DEMAND A GREEN NEW DEAL.' As I turned to look toward the Capitol lined by a wall of twenty police officers determined to stop the protestors. I thought to myself, ‘Don’t they know we are marching for them as well?”
As everyone arrived at the steps and stood in resistance, a police officer yelled over a loud speaker that the demonstrators were “going to be arrested” if they did not disperse. And, each time, the protestors yelled even louder, “Hey Hey, Ho Ho, fossil fuels have got to go!” drowning out the warnings.
In all, twenty-six people were arrested for demonstrating, including Sally Field, charged with crowding and obstructing justice. But they'll be back again...next Friday, and the Friday after, and the Friday after that because, as Fonda said, and all who stand in solidarity agree, “We must act now to save the planet from irreversible catastrophe.”
“I want you to feel the fear I feel every day,” Greta Thunberg was also quoted as saying at the World Economic Forum earlier this year, “and I want you to act.”
To learn more about Fire Drill Fridays, click on the links below:
Web Site: https://firedrillfridays.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/firedrillfriday/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/firedrillfriday/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/FireDrillFriday
