When ‘OK, Boomer’ Means ‘Let’s Go Protest’

On a Thursday morning in June, Roberta Wall sat on a rocking chair, swaying back and forth. She caught the attention of several passersby. She wore a light green cardigan and bright red-framed glasses and held a poster that read, “How much more climate failure until we act?” Wall, who is 72 years old, wasn’t on a porch, though. She was in front of Citibank’s New York headquarters, one of dozens of aging activists sitting in similar chairs and holding similar signs and

blocking access to the building

This wasn’t their first rodeo: For these older protestors, civil disobedience has been a decades-long endeavor.

“I’m here just using my voice,” said Lynn Cole, a 69-year-old member of Extinction Rebellion, who started marching during the Vietnam War at the age of 14. “To that end, I’m here for future generations.”

Today that means protesting the top financiers of fossil fuels: investment banks.

Last year, investment banks, including Citibank, JPMorgan Chase, and Bank of America, funded over $40.8 billion in fossil-fuel-related businesses and $162 million in oil and gas extraction in the Amazon. The continuous investment in gas and oil drilling contributed to greenhouse gas emissions that, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, have raised the average temperature from 0.32 to 0.51 degrees Fahrenheit since 1970.

With the world’s top 60 banks showing no sign of slowing down their financing, this older generation of activists is not stopping either, despite the possibility of arrest.

Bryan Clampitt, another member of Extinction Rebellion, chose to spend his last month as a 61-year-old at a demonstration. “I know that a lot of the Sunrise generation blames the Boomers, like, ‘Hey, you did nothing about this,’” Clampitt said. “But there were a lot of people sounding the warning, going to protests, and voting the right way. The idea that Boomers don’t care, he said, is “just misinformation.”

Frances Stewart, 68, is the education committee chair at Elders for Climate Action (ECA) and has been concerned about the environment since she was a Girl Scout, she said. She is now a retired US Navy captain and her advocacy is still going strong. “If we don’t get climate change under control, it could literally wash away all the other good things that we have done,” she said. “When I was getting ready to retire, I was sort of going, ‘Okay, what can I do about this?”

The ECA and the Third Act are just one of a number of organizations that are led by climate activists over 60, activists who volunteer their time and skills to mobilize environmental protection and awareness. Their participation in local or national movements promotes the advocacy of long-time protestors and encourages intergenerational solidarity as they walk alongside younger advocates – and the youth grateful for the extra help.

Youth activists across the country recognize the efforts of their eco-minded predecessors and welcome them as mentors, role models, and collaborators in their battle against the climate crisis. Since she was 13, she has been the organizing director of Zero Hour Jamie Minden. Now, at 21, she fondly remembers older environmental activists who served as her mentors, mentioning that the wisdom and experience of experienced organizers gave Minden the ability to concretize her advocacy into action.