The Women Who Sparked Movements—And Why You’re Next

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🎙️ Female Friday | Sassy Politics with Christi Chanelle

 

Episode Summary:
This week on Female Friday, we’re bringing the fire—and the facts. We’re honoring the quiet courage and LOUD legacy of Rosa Parks, then spotlighting powerhouse activists like Fannie Lou Hamer and Dolores Huerta who flipped the script on “too old” and “too quiet.” These women didn’t ask for permission—they made history anyway. And now? It's your turn.

We're diving into their stories, their grit, and how their grassroots rebellion is the blueprint for your own badass activism. This episode is your reminder that whether you're 25 or 65, your voice still matters. And if you’ve ever thought you were too small to make a difference… pull up a seat, sis—this one's for you.

Available On: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and everywhere you listen
Follow Me: @ChristiChanelle on TikTok, Instagram, Threads, and Facebook
Website: ChristiChanelle.com

💋 Coming Monday (04/29/25): Mindf*ck Monday Teaser
Title: Bureaucracy and Ballots: The SAVE Act and Voter Sabotage
We’re breaking down why showing your Real ID isn’t enough to protect your vote—and what lawmakers aren’t telling you. Tune in for receipts, rage, and a quick email template to start raising hell.

💋 Coming Wednesday (05/01/25): Woke-ish Wednesday Teaser
Title: 1 Million Views Later: What TikTok Taught Me About Fear and Visibility
We’re reflecting on what it means to be seen, the pressure of going viral, and the new goals I’m setting now that I know I’m louder than I thought.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Tired, brave and loud .
The women who moved mountains.
There's something powerfulabout hearing a woman's voice
rise in the face of injustice.
Today we're diving into fourwomen whose words didn't just
inspire change, they commandedit.

(00:21):
This isn't just a historylesson.
It's your reminder that you'renever too tired, too old or too
ordinary to shake the damn table.
I'm Christy Chanel and this isSassy Politics.

(00:54):
Rosa Parks Most people haveheard about Rosa Parks Now.
I realize that they're tryingto rip away whitewash history
and take away any sign ofactivism where it could maybe
spark someone these days to doit.
When I think about quietcourage, I think about Rosa
Parks.
Most people know the story.
In 1955, she refused to give upher seat on a Montgomery bus

(01:19):
and set off a chain reactionthat helped ignite the civil
rights movement.
But what people often forget,especially white people like me,
is that Rosa wasn't just hiredfrom work.
She was strategic.
She had been trained in civildisobedience.
She had spent years workingquietly as the secretary of her

(01:41):
local NAACP.
She knew the system and sheknew exactly what she was doing.
When she stayed in that seat,and for a long time, I didn't
think this part of the movementpertained to me Because I'm
white, I'm a woman, I'mprivileged in ways I didn't
always see.
Growing up, I used to thinkthat was their fight, that was

(02:03):
their bravery and that was theirburden.
But then I started listening,really listening to how Black
women have always been the onesholding the line, how they've
had to show up for democracy,for freedom, for rights in ways
that would break most of us, andI realized not only does this

(02:23):
pertain to me, it's myresponsibility to speak up, not
to center myself, but to standbeside them Loudly, with full
voice.
Rosa later said people alwayssay that I didn't give up my
seat because I was tired, butthat isn't true.
I was not tired physically,no-transcript.

(03:09):
And maybe you're like me.
Maybe you're starting youractivism later in life, maybe
you're just now waking up,looking around and thinking how
did we get here?
Let me tell you something weneed you.
It's not too late.
You're not too late.
Rosa wasn't ready.
She was right, and your momentto be right might not look like

(03:31):
a viral post or a podium speech.
It might look like aconversation at Easter, a
protest sign, an email to yourrepresentative, a podcast
episode, a refusal to be quiet.
Her stillness that day waslouder than any scream, and
every time I hesitate to use myvoice I think of her, because

(03:54):
sometimes you don't need amicrophone, you just need a seat
and the guts to hold it.
If you've ever felt too old ortoo late to begin something
powerful, let me introduce youto Fannie Lou Hamer.
She was 44 when she became avoice for voting rights in the
Jim Crow South.

(04:15):
She wasn't a polishedpolitician, she was a
sharecropper, a woman who didn'tfinish school, a woman who had
every reason to believe thesystem would never listen to her
, and still she spoke truth topower with a shaking voice and a
spine of steel.
She survived beatings, jail andintimidation, but still showed

(04:40):
up again and again.
Her famous line I'm sick andtired of being sick and tired.
Same, fanny, same.
And if she could rise in theface of that kind of violence
and keep fighting, so can we,because no matter your age, your

(05:01):
past, your experience level, weneed you.
If Fannie Lou Hamer could findher voice at 44 and change
history, you sure as hell canrise at 40, 50, 60 or beyond.
Your voice doesn't expire.
Your purpose doesn't have adeadline.

(05:25):
Dolores Huerta co -founded theUnited Farm Workers Movement and
helped organize some of themost powerful labor strikes in
US history.
But she didn't do it with moneyor a giant team.
She did it through community,through the people, door to door
, meeting to meeting.

(05:47):
She wasn't just a leader, shewas a builder.
That phrase, you know si sepuede, that was hers, and it
wasn't just a slogan.
In English it means yes, we can.
By the way, it wasn't just aslogan, it was a battle cry, a
belief, a challenge.

(06:08):
And when I think about what I'mdoing with this podcast and
this platform, it's not justabout talking.
It's about building a community, creating a space for women who
feel like it's too late tostart something new.
It's about rising together,supporting one another.
Dolores built her movement inunion halls and parking lots.

(06:30):
I'm building mine with a micand a message, and if you're
listening to this, you'realready a part of it.
Yes, this is Female Friday, butI have to end with President
Barack Obama, because one of themost powerful speeches I have

(06:52):
ever heard came from a woman heencountered.
It happened during his firstcampaign.
He visited a small town inSouth Carolina and a volunteer
named Edith Childs stood up andyelled fired up, ready to go.
She kept saying it over andover, until the whole room said

(07:14):
it back, until it became arallying cry, until it followed
him across the country and intothe White House.
It wasn't a politician whocreated that moment, it was a
woman.
Sometimes your job isn't to leadthe protest.
Sometimes it's to be the voicein the back of the room, yelling

(07:34):
fired up, ready to go.
So now we honor Rosa, fanny,dolores and Edith, and the
millions of unnamed women whosewords have stirred revolutions.
I want to remind you your voicedoesn't have to be perfect, it

(07:56):
doesn't have to be loud, it justhas to be yours.
Speak even if you shake.
Start even if you're scared.
Rise even if you're tired,because your words, they, might
be the ones someone elseremembers when they're ready to
rise.

(08:16):
I'll see you Monday forMindFuck Monday, but for now,
stay fired up, stay loud andnever forget.
You're part of the legacy too.
Love you, miss you, bye.