“I became an activist in the 70s,” she told Parade.com in a new interview. “That’s when I began to feel like…you know, I was spending time with people who will never be famous, will never have the ability to have a very large platform, but who were suffering and working very hard as activists and organizers to improve their lot. That’s when I realized that I could never have the words that had as much authenticity as they, but I could help get their voice out to a wider audience.” So, the 82-year-old has dedicated the more recent years of her life to activism as much as, if not more than acting. The Grace and Frankie star moved to D.C. about a year ago to protest climate change at the foot of the White House. For four months, delivered Fire Drill Fridays, a climate protest in front of the Capitol. She got arrested five times in the process. Then, the pandemic hit and she moved back to Los Angeles to quarantine and moved her efforts online. One might think the woman who felt she had to move across the country to make an impact would feel discouraged having to now protest from a distance, but she didn’t miss a beat. And the impact has only grown since the protests became more accessible to the masses. “We’ve been doing [Fire Drill Fridays online] every Friday for six months now. We had 600,000 people watching across all platforms last Friday. We’ve had over 3 million since July. It’s been pretty great. The numbers keep growing,” she said. “I do miss, you know, being in, in DC, in person at the rallies, but, the transition hasn’t been difficult,” she added. “It wasn’t very difficult compared to what other people have had to adjust to as single women,” she pointed out. “There are no young kids around, I’m already fairly proficient in social media. So living on Zoom not a hardship for me, in fact, I like it. And I think I never want to travel for a meeting again.” Even when we asked what she’s learned about herself in quarantine, she had a hard time standing centerstage. “I confirmed what I’ve known. I don’t get bored and I don’t get lonely. So I feel very lucky,” she began. “Listen, this has been a tragic time on so many levels for so many millions of people. I feel very, very, very lucky. I wake up every morning, grateful that I’m where I am and that I have the resources that I do. I have a roof over my head. I’m not worried about food. So I’m just trying to do as much as I can from a base of privilege and feel a lot of gratitude.” It shouldn’t be a surprise that Fonda, who recently released a book called What Can I Do? about her path to environmental activism, has a hard time understanding self-care. “I don’t spend a whole lot of time on self-care,” she said at first when asked what she’s done for herself during quarantine. “I take two or three short walks every day. I work out three times a week. I sleep eight or nine hours a night. I have osteoarthritis. And I use a thing called Uncle Bud’s CBD, a roll on CBD cream that helps with joint pain. And washing my hands a lot and using sanitizer dries out my hands, so I use Uncle Bud’s hand cream and body lotion and overnight masks.” She started using CBD over two years ago when her doctor recommended she swap her sleeping pill with CBD. “It really works for me and I don’t have any hangover the next day,” she said, laughing. She’s now a brand ambassador for Uncle Bud’s CBD. She also took her famous ’80s aerobics trend out of retirement during quarantine and even created a new one. “It felt good," she said of going back to her roots in that way. “Especially when people told me how well they work. That’s awesome.” But self-care is sort of a new concept in activism, Fonda has noticed, especially when comparing the Black Lives Matter movement with the Black Panthers, which she was very involved with in the 70s. “One big difference is female leadership; female and non-binary leadership makes a huge difference,” she pointed out of the difference between BLM and the Black Panther Party. “I’ll give you an example. A number of years ago, but it was shortly after Ferguson [protests around Michael Brown’s shooting], I got some flyers in the mail and they were urging activists to take care of their health—‘Don’t let yourself burn out.’ And they were very beautiful and it really struck me. And they came from Black Lives Matter, and I’ve never remembered any movement that talked about self-care,” she said. “But of course, their leadership is female and non-binary.” She’s noticed that the BLM movement is much more diverse than the “male-centric” Black Panthers. “I mean, the uprisings after the murder of George Floyd—there are very lily-white communities here in California where people were marching, carrying Black Lives Matter signs. I mean, if that’s not hopeful, I don’t know what is,” she said. “I think that it’s partly a factor of these times…that have made people recognize the interrelationship of crises and are willing to join together collectively and cooperatively across organizations and movements. And that’s very different than it was in the 70s.” So, even though she’s been a crusader through countless crises, she’s still learning. “What I find is, and I kind of like it, I’m 82 and they’re like 20. And yet I feel like a newbie. I’m learning so much from them and I’m gaining so much insight,” she said of the younger activists she works with. She constantly cites Greta Thunberg as an inspiration. In fact, it was the 17-year-old environmentalist activist’s work who inspired Fonda to start Fire Drill Fridays. “I’m truly grateful for the young activists because over a year ago it was their demonstration, their global uprising on behalf of the planet that got me to leave my comfort zone and move to D.C. and start Fire Drill Fridays,” she said. “So I’m eternally grateful.” She’s in awe of “how much young people are sacrificing,” she said. “I have met so many young people who had career dreams, but who decided that it was more important that they become full time activists to try to protect their future than to spend all their time working on a career that may never happen…I’ve been impressed with how much they have been willing to give up in order to fight to protect the climate. And I think that they’re providing a great, great, great example to the rest of us, as their Clarion call for older people to join up has been heard very widely. And again, I’m so grateful.” As a seasoned fighter, she does have some wisdom to impart on them, however. “There’s a lot of suffering in the hearts of young people right now,” she said. “I think a lot of us, we’re mourning, we’re carrying grief because of what’s happening.” She hopes they don’t get discouraged. “I think the best antidote for grief is activism, is feeling like you’re making a difference, that you’re doing something, it makes you feel good. It helps with the grieving process.” But most importantly, “I want to say to young people, assuming that they’re 18 or older, vote!” She continued, “I’m old, I’ve been through many ups and downs and crises, nothing like what we’re facing now. What’s at stake is your future, and what’s at stake is democracy. And so, please vote. That’s the number one thing.” Still feeling discouraged? Gloria Steinem’s advice to activists mourning the loss of RBG might help.
