Still Here

Mindf*ck Monday | Sassy Politics with Christi Chanelle

And That Was Just 2025.

2025 gave us Trump.
 Book bans. Media monopolies. AI moving faster than ethics. ICE raids in U.S. cities. Women’s bodies turned into bargaining chips. Conditional citizenship. Courts rolling back rights. Authoritarian language going mainstream. Fear normalized. Silence rewarded.

And that was just the headlines.

This episode isn’t a breakdown—it’s a pause. A reflection. A one-year review that’s really the story of staying when disappearing would’ve been easier.

I didn’t plan to become a political creator. I started this journey grieving my mom, finding my voice, and learning how to tell the truth out loud. But the environment changed—and once you see it, you can’t unknow it.

Sassy Politics became a one-woman act of resistance. No team. No editor. No safety net. Just showing up anyway.

This episode is about grief, fear, courage, quitting smoking, hitting 10K on TikTok, building Glitched, and realizing that in an environment designed to silence people—still being here is the win.

If this is 2025, don’t look away.
 I didn’t. And I’m not going anywhere.

🎬 GLITCHED — EPISODE 3 PREMIERES

📅 Thursday, January 1st
⏰ 8:00 PM Central Standard Time
📍 YouTube | Sassy Politics

Glitched is a cinematic deep-dive series examining Project 2025, power, propaganda, and pattern recognition—through art, history, and lived experience.

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⚠️ DISCLAIMER

This content includes opinion-based political commentary, personal reflection, and analysis intended for educational, advocacy, and commentary purposes. Viewer discretion and independent research are encouraged.

🔔 MINDF*CK MONDAY — WEEKLY TEASE

Mindf*ck Monday — because the news should come with a trigger warning.

New episodes every Monday, breaking down this traumatic political reality through lived experience, clarity, and truth.

Stay tuned.
 I’ll still be here.

Chapters

• 0:00 Shock Of 2025
• 0:45 A Pause And Year-In-Review
• 2:02 From Grief Podcast To Politics
• 3:02 Authoritarian Drift Becomes Unignorable
• 3:28 Sassy Politics Is Born
• 4:02 A One-Woman Production
• 4:35 The Cost Of Caring
• 5:08 Rest, Leadership, And A Milestone
• 6:20 Quitting Smoking And Small Wins
• 6:41 Owning The Artist And New Series
• 7:04 Fear, Algorithms, And Resolve
• 7:35 Community As Fuel
• 8:20 Goals: Independence And Team
• 9:02 Staying Power And Closing Promise

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:00

2025 gave me Trump. Book bans, corporate takeovers, media monopolies, AI moving faster than ethics, redacted Epstein files, a Supreme Court nobody truck. Ice raids in the U.S. cities, women's bodies turned into bargaining chips, conditional U.S. citizenship, APAC embedded in the US government, truth social posts that would have been unthinkable 40 years ago. Turning point popping up in Texas High School's mandatory, Candace Owens and Conspiracy Spirals, and I believe a lot of what she's saying. MTG gone completely rogue, fear normalized, silence rewarded. That was just 2025. Welcome to the four-year trauma series that nobody asked for.

SPEAKER_00: 0:51

I'm Christy Chanel, and this is Sassy Politics.

SPEAKER_01: 1:02

Today is gonna feel a little different. This is a pause, a reflection. This is my one-year review. But honestly, it's two years of doing this. I didn't do a 2024 recap because I didn't even know what I was building yet. Last year, I was just finding my voice. I was experimenting, testing, talking myself into being brave enough to post, walking through personal grief, family tension, and inner battles while the world was getting louder and darker by the day. This year, I stayed. I stayed when the headlines got heavier. I stayed when courts rolled back rights. I stayed when the election cycle turned into a trauma loop. I stayed when Project 2025 stopped sounding theoretical and started sounding inevitable. I stayed when the environment made silence feel safer and speaking freely much riskier. I didn't plan to be this political creator. I actually started this year with Love You Miss You Bye, a podcast that was a dedication to my mom. That's what she used to say to me when we got off the phone. Love you, Miss You Bye. That show was about grief and healing identity and discovering who I was underneath layers of pain. I quickly learned that podcasting is therapy, especially when you're willing to tell the truth out loud. And trust me, it was not easy. But the environment changed. January, February, March. Within those first three months of the year, everything shifted. Authoritarian language went mainstream. Women's bodies became bargaining chips. Rebranded white supremacy stopped whispering and started speaking plainly. And the system cracked loudly enough that I couldn't ignore it anymore. March 31st, 2025. That's when sassy politics was officially born. If the world had been calmer, if rights hadn't been stripped so openly, I probably wouldn't be doing this. I don't prefer this. I'd love a calmer world. I'd be doing book reviews, true crime, talking about human behavior, mental health, music. You know, I love a good lip sync. I'm a dancer, I'm a singer, I'm an optimist at heart. But once you see it, once you really see it, you can't unknow it. The environment demanded a response. So I showed up, week after week, by myself. And I need to say this clearly because people don't always understand what that means. Sassy Politics is a one-woman show. I write the scripts, I research the cases, I build the story arc, I edit the video, I cut the audio, I choose the music, I design the thumbnails, I write the titles, I post the shorts, I manage the platforms, I market the episodes. There is no team. There is no editor or producer. There is definitely no safety net. When I mess up, I mess up. It's just me. And I'm still here. That doesn't mean it doesn't cost me anything. Emotionally, this year was draining. It's exhausting to live inside this information while people around you don't want to talk about it or can't. It's lonely to care this deeply in a world that scrolls past suffering. It's isolating to hold patterns in your head that others refuse to see. I had to learn that not everyone is awake. And that this walk can be lonely. I choose it anyway. This month I took a breath, not out of fear, but out of respect for myself. I had just come out of a week-long immersive leadership program for my corporate job. My brain was full. My body was tired. And for the first time, I just let myself say, I don't have to bleed every week to prove that this whole thing matters. I wasn't quitting, that was listening, listening to myself. And then there was a moment that really, really, truly surprised me. I hit 10,000 on TikTok. You know, right? Superficial numbers. But I cried. I cried because the first person I wanted to tell was my mom. Because I know how proud she would have been. I cried because I never even set that as a goal this year. I just didn't think it was realistic. My kids bought me balloons, and in that moment, I realized this wasn't just going to disappear into the void. People are listening. People are finding this. And people are staying. Somewhere in all of this, I also quit smoking. Quietly, and it wasn't easy. So I'm not trying to downplay it at all. I'm kind of proud of myself. So that was on February 6th, 10 months ago. So in two months, we will be celebrating. It's important to celebrate your victories. They matter. Glitched. My sassy politics new series on YouTube exists because I couldn't keep pretending I wasn't an artist. I know, right? An artist? What? Mindfuck Monday. This Monday show is how I process the world and how I relate to you. And yes, there's fear. I'm afraid of being silenced. Of algorithms deciding truth is inconvenient. Of media being controlled by power instead of people. But that fear doesn't stop me. It won't stop me. It fuels me. Because if this window closes, I want it to be known that I used my voice while I had it. No regrets. So no, I'm not just getting started. I'm still here, still showing up, still learning, still building, still speaking, still refusing to look away, even when I want to. And in this environment where everything pushes people towards silence, being still here is the win. I've also learned something important this year. Even when my internal world feels lonely, I'm not actually alone. The reason I keep going is because some of you feel this too. And saying it out loud helps us find each other. That's why this matters. Looking ahead, my goals aren't about fame. They're about independence, sustainability, building something that can stand on its own. Hitting a thousand on YouTube isn't validation, it's freedom. And eventually, I don't want to do this alone. I want a team. I want a space to go deeper. To do this well. I don't have all the answers yet. I'm still learning what matters in real time. But I know this: I didn't disappear. I didn't numb out. And I didn't look away. I stayed. I'm Christy Chanel, and this has been Mindfuck Monday. And what a mind fuck of a year. Here's to 2026. And if this is 2025, don't look away. I'll still be here.