Over the last seven years, Citibank, along with Chase, Wells Fargo, and B of A, have invested more than $1.4 TRILLION in fossil fuel development across the planet. These projects will be operational for decades and continue to increase climate disruption and amplify all the suffering being caused by heat waves, fires, droughts, and sea-level rise.
As part of our Citibank Blitz during Summer of Heat, we at Third Act SoCal have been visiting Citibank branches across Southern California to speak from the heart to branch managers about our climate fears and concerns for ourselves, our children, and future generations—and explain why we are leaving Citibank and encouraging others to do the same.
We have taken our lead from the distinguished climate scientist Katherine Hayhoe, who has said: “After thousands of conversations, I’m convinced that the single most important thing that anyone—not just me, but literally anyone—can do to bring people together is, ironically, the very thing we fear the most: Talk about it.”
A few weeks ago, in San Diego, Geoff M. of Third Act SoCal and I had a powerful interaction with a young Citibank employee that I wanted to share with you. The young woman we met with, Fatima (not her real name), said the manager was not available but she would pass on the information to her.
Geoff and I expressed our fears about the climate, how it would affect our children and their generation, that we, as elders, wouldn’t even be alive when the worst impacts hit, and that because of Citibank’s continued funding of fossil fuels we were no longer doing business with the bank.
Fatima became very excited, said she knew about the Summer of Heat demonstrations at Citi HQ in New York, thanked us repeatedly for coming in, and declared she agreed with my cancelling my Citibank credit cards! She said that our visit had given her the opening she was looking for to talk with the branch manager about Citibank and the climate crisis, gave us the regional manager’s contact information, and said if we sent the “complaint” to her that company policy dictated that she share it with her superiors.
It was an extraordinary five minutes with this young woman trying to make a living and build a life while struggling to make sense of what is going on with the planet, reconcile her beliefs and values with her job, and feeling tentative and scared about how to do that. Fatima felt seen, supported, and validated by us.
Both Geoff and I have children her age, and agreed that Fatima reminded us of them, which made this interaction even more poignant and powerful.
You never know how it’s going to turn out when you go on a visit like this. Sometimes there is polite indifference or moderate engagement, but other times by speaking from the heart we make deep, gratifying connections and create allies.
We are all in this together!
David R.