My heart skipped a beat the other day when I saw a quick headline on Facebook about Sally Field getting arrested. I thought, Wait…what?! Then I scrolled down to see what she was arrested for: protesting climate change, and I thought, “Oh, OK. Go, Sally!” The actress joined Jane Fonda on her most recent Fire Drill Friday and was among 26 people arrested by the Capitol Police:
“I am a mother, I am a grandmother, the time is now,” Field said during a speech. “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.”
Footage from the Fire Drill Fridays Twitter account shows crowds cheering as Field is taken from the steps of the Capitol by police. She appeared to be in good spirits, smiling and holding her wrists in the air.
The theme of Friday’s protest was jobs, communities, and just transitions for workers currently working in fossil fuel industries. Jane Fonda also spoke at the rally, saying, “‘Transforming our industrial base and energy systems can and will create millions of good jobs, but we must ensure that they guarantee workers a living wage, a union wage, full benefits, a safe workplace, and that they have a say in designing and full rights to collective bargaining[.]'” (Jane had previously said that she wouldn’t get arrested again until December 20.)
It’s wonderful that Sally showed up. I didn’t realize that the protests were themed, and I think it’s so important that there is a focus on people who work in these industries and need to be able to continue to work as we transition away from fossil fuels. I’ve said it before, but I hope that someone takes up this cause after Jane goes back to work. My assumption is that she’s planning for that. I’d love for Greta Thunberg to participate, and not just because it would tick off the baby at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue: She’s knowledgeable, she’s eloquent, she’s energized, and she’s not interested in sugar-coating her message.
Thank you to @sally_field who was just arrested on the US Capitol steps with #FireDrillFriday taking action demanding a just transition! pic.twitter.com/T54vKME0Ve
— Fire Drill Fridays (@FireDrillFriday) December 13, 2019
Photos credit: Getty and media via Twitter
Love this! Made my morning!
You go, Norma Rae!!👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
If you only read one Celebrity bio, read hers. It is really really good.
Do you mean her memoir/autobiography or is there a particular biography you’re thinking of?
she’s not listed in celebitches ‘celebrities’ page, so it must be an outside biography
She has an autobiography named “In Pieces.” I thought it was good.
Go Sally!!
Currently visiting my hometown in Alberta, Canada for the holidays – where the provincial economy is effectively tied to the price of oil. This is a province of 4 million people that needs a just transition plan. I am very pleased that this is something are Fonda and her team are highlighting, as it’s something many of us have been thinking about for years – decades, even.
Sadly, the politicians here whose campaigns are funded by the oil sands have no interest in defining or supporting such a transition. And the employees and workers who require reskilling as part of such a transition have been told by those politicians for decades that changes = no jobs. They will rabidly support whatever the politicians do, because they believe it is in their best interest. I miss this place dearly but some days, I have very little hope for it.
Raising a mug of coffee and Irish cream to these ladies this cold December morning.
Yes Sally!!!!! She’s a national treasure.
Good statement, Fonda. Working on a theme per protest is prob a great way to break down the aspects and get people thinking about real actionable concrete steps and directing them to orgs that can implement them, rather than getting emotional about “change”, actions unspecified. (No offense to emotions. They can be very helpful.)
So, Sally Field received the Kennedy Center Honor and got arrested in DC this week! Way to multi-task! Both she and Jane Fonda continue to kick butt and show they haven’t slowed down a bit from their “prime” days.
Love Sally for doing this. I wish anyone under 20, 25 the very best luck, ’cause we’re all going to need it but in particular they will. The enormously complex (and hence resource and energy intensive) hydrocarbon-based societies we’ve built, the global economic framework that’s based on countries competing more than collaborating, our huge populations, etc., mean the only possible solution is the suspension of democracy or an overnight (two, three months) transition to an not-yet-discovered clean, infinite source of energy (e.g., cold fusion or Tesla might have had a few ideas).
Even then, we might have already set off tipping points, which means we’d have to geoengineer for a few hundred or even a thousand years to maintain stability until we figure out a way to suck the carbon and other greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere.
At the age of extinction / the Anthropocene, the lesson is this: don’t eff with Nature (and an atmosphere that has a very delicate balance) because as long as you have a physical body, you’ll always be IN IT and a part of IT – Nature – and be reliant on it for your existence.
Rant over. This is a topic I’ve been despairing over for some time. My consolation is I don’t have kids so don’t have to worry about their futures.