Veteran activist Fonda issues rallying call to young voters

Young people's unhappiness with the Biden administration's record on oil and gas drilling and the war in Gaza should not deter them from voting to block Donald Trump from the US presidency, the Hollywood actor and activist Jane Fonda has urged.

- Mark Hertsgaard

"I understand why young people are really angry, and really hurting," Fonda said. "What I want to say to them is: 'Do not sit this election out, no matter how angry you are. Do not vote for a third party, no matter how angry you are. Because that will elect somebody who will deny you any voice in the future of the United States... If you really care about Gaza, vote to have a voice, so you can do something about it. And then, be ready to turn out into the streets, in the millions, and fight for it."" Fonda's remarks came in a wideranging interview organised by the global media collaborative Covering Climate Now and conducted by the Guardian, CBS News and Rolling Stone magazine.

Making major social change requires massive, non-violent street protests as well as shrewd electoral organising, Fonda argued. Drawing on more than 50 years of activism, from her anti-Vietnam war and antinuclear protests in the 1970s to later agitating for economic democracy, women's rights and, today, for climate action, Fonda said: "History shows us that ... you need millions of people in the streets, but you [also] need people in the halls of power with ears and a heart to hear the protests, to hear the demands."