During the January 10 “Fire Drill Fridays” event, a weekly climate action protest organised by actress Jane Fonda, actor Martin Sheen took the opportunity to quote Indian poet and polymath Rabindranath Tagore. According to CNN, Sheen and Joaquin Phoenix were the latest celebrities to be arrested at this week’s Fire Drill Fridays.
Fonda’s weekly initiative confirmed to CNN that the two actors were arrested this week, while US Capitol Police verified that 147 people were arrested in Friday’s protest, but did not provide a list of names. They were all charged with crowding, obstructing or incommoding.
Taking the stage from Fonda with words of praise for women at large, Sheen first said, “Clearly, the world will be saved by women. Thank god they outnumber us men.”
Sheen then narrated an Irish parable, that he has previously quoted as one of his “Four Pieces of Advice for the Next Generation” for Time magazine.
Sheen then encourages the crowd to take action for something in their lifetime, to act for something that can “lift up the nation to that point where the heart is without fear, and the head is held high.” Having segued into Tagore’s poem, Where The Mind Is Without Fear, in this way, Sheen went on to complete the recitation – though without citing his source.
Sheen has previously recited Tagore’s poem in 2016, in a video urging Americans to vote, and to take action in favour of the betterment of their nation (video below).
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