Seven-time Golden Globe-winning actor and lifelong activist Jane Fonda and radio producer and Climate One founder Greg Dalton ’86 sold out Occidental’s Thorne Hall Oct. 1. Their conversation centered around the local and global implications of climate change and how young activists can frame their careers to address it. Fonda highlighted the importance of organizing as a community and encouraged young people to get involved in activism.
The event was hosted by the President’s Office, in conjunction with Occidental’s Urban & Environmental Policy Institute, Institutional Advancement and the Office of Marketing & Communications. Associate Professor of Urban & Environmental Policy Bhavna Shamasunder and Dalton had the idea of hosting Fonda at Occidental so the community could learn from her 50 years of activism.
“It’s a lot of sustainable efforts on campus coming together,” Shamasunder said. “Thinking about how students can get involved as climate activists and also activism in general.”
An hour before the main event, Fonda met with students, faculty and alumni involved in climate justice activism in the Occidental community for a private reception. Audience members began filing into Thorne as early as 4:15 p.m. and filled the front half of the seats. At 5 p.m., four empty chairs and a coffee table stood on stage, soon to host Fonda, Dalton and later, youth activists Emma Galbraith (senior) and Emma Silber ’23.
The event began with a conversation between Fonda and Dalton, followed by a clip from the documentary “District 15,” depicting the fight to end oil drilling near residences. Galbraith and Silber facilitated a discussion after the screening with a brief Q&A.
One of Dalton’s first questions to Fonda referenced her well-known work, the 1980 comedy “9 to 5.” Dalton said his intention in starting the conversation with this question was to connect different generations of the audience — those familiar with Fonda’s activism and those who knew her from her films.
“I came in wondering, ‘How do Oxy students today know Jane Fonda?'” Dalton said.
Dalton said the goal of his conversation with Fonda was to connect with the Occidental community while simultaneously incorporating the interconnectedness of Fonda’s acting and activism.
During the conversation, Fonda said that at 60, she began to think about how she wanted to shape her legacy and decided to prioritize climate justice.
“I figured 60 was the beginning of the last third of my life, and I had no idea how I was supposed to live it,” Fonda said. “I thoroughly advise you [to] start thinking now about the end of your life.”
Halfway through the event, a separate three-minute clip was played portraying the ecological and health impacts of toxic chemicals in Wilmington, a neighborhood west of Long Beach near an oil drilling site.
Assane Wade (sophomore) and Anna Miller (sophomore) said they appreciated the video’s spotlight on the urgent racialized environmental impacts near Occidental.
“There are certain demographics and people of different economic statuses that will face the impacts before others,” Wade said. “I really liked that they made the distinction in the video, and Fonda doubled down on that when she was talking about it too.”
Wade and Miller said the racialized distribution of toxic waste plants makes certain people bear the climate crisis’s impacts sooner.
“It’s interesting, in a horrifying way, to see how systematically companies choose where to drill for oil or place toxic waste plants, all connected to income and race,” Miller said.
After the video, Galbraith and Silber joined the stage to speak on the local movement against toxic waste, and with a warm welcome from Dalton, Fonda asked them about their climate activism careers and student life. Dalton ended their conversation at 5:57 p.m. to invite audience questions.
During the audience Q&A, Urban and Environmental Policy major Izzy Wang (senior) asked for Fonda’s advice for the student union organizing group, Rising Occidental Student Employees (ROSE). Fonda voiced her support.
Wang said it was important to mention ROSE because of Fonda’s experience and appreciation of raising the voices of young activists.
“She knows when to step in and step out of the center,” Wang said. “I loved how human she is. She gets very impassioned about things, and she’s a community member just like the rest of us.”
Wang said Fonda’s sympathy and support for young climate organizers provide activists with a unique influence in the climate justice movement.
Fonda said that being young is difficult and the trajectory of your life becomes more clear as you get older. She said nothing is harder for young people than what they are going through now.
“Hang in there. When you get depressed, turn to activism,” Fonda said. “[Organizing] is delicious, fun work.”
Contact Melisa Blau at blaum@oxy.edu
