Activist Collective

  📍 Hi, friends. Welcome back to Activist Collective. Today is July 1st, 2026, and I know I've been away for a minute, but, um, life is getting hairy out, out there. I don't know if you've noticed, but s**t's getting really real. Everything we predicted that would happen under a Donald Trump America is happening, including higher cost of living, uh, gas prices, energy costs, uh, uh, just day-to-day life. Rent is getting jacked up. Interest rates are getting jacked up. This America under Donald Trump is not only expensive, but it is dangerous. We are dealing with white Christian nationalists committing violent acts against marginalized groups and facing no accountability for that. And I need for you to understand that this was an open book test on America and they failed. You failed.   📍 Um, as of about 30 minutes ago, an active duty Air Force member was standing on the steps of the Capitol holding a sign, not behind the barricades where he couldn't be, but where the public is allowed to be. And he was holding a sign in opposition, in dissent to the illegal military actions and this administration, and the Capitol Police walked up and arrested him. Why? What per se was he doing that was illegal that warranted arrest? Do tell. Uh, because it is not illegal to wear your uniform. In fact, I see people wearing their uniform everywhere. In fact, a Congress member wore his Israeli IDF f*****g military uniform into Congress, where he s- he spoke out on all the things and yet nobody ever gets arrested. This man wears his uniform and holds a sign and they f*****g put him in jail. This is your Donald Trump America, friends. A clear f*****g violation of constitutional rights. Texas Bible Law & Constitutional Rights Speaking of clear violations of constitutional rights, did you know that the Texas School Board is now forcing teachers to require the Bible as re- as required reading in, in schools? The... This is the group that said, "Don't touch my guns. It's in my Constitution. It's my, my Second Amendment rights. Don't you touch them." And we say, "Yeah, well, guns have come a long ways." They, "They never said nothing about guns getting better or bigger or having more bullets. Nothing. Don't touch my guns. It is an ironclad, ironclad 'don't touch it' constitutional amendment." But when it comes to the wording in the Constitution that says there shall be no establishment of religion, that seems to be up for f*****g debate, when it is the only thing that is cut and dry, clearly stated. There's no way to interpret it other than what it says. No establishment of a religion, yet these b*****s keep continually screaming, "We're a Christian nation. We're a Christian..." No the f**k we're not, b***h. We never have been. You're a Christian, because you fell for it and got duped. You're the f*****g morons who keep forking money into the baskets of these pedophile priests. That's you. The rest of us aren't as dumb as you. I'm sorry that you are a loud minority, truly sorry, but that doesn't make us a Christian nation. And if the people in Texas who love their Constitution don't speak up, we will not be able to save this. It's already gonna take a long f*****g time to come back from all of the s**t this, this administration has done to this country. We are truly i- in a, in a, in a f*****g pile of s**t right now, excuse my French. We are in a, we are in a world of hurt in this country, and it's gonna take a long time to get out of it. So on that note, um, I also wanted to talk to you guys about election time, election time. People see an election, and they go, "Oh, more ads, more this, more that." I see elections as hope. I see an election coming, and I have hope. It is the one time of the two-year cycle where hope is returned to me, and I have hope that the American people are going to do the right thing. Have they consistently let me down? Yes. Every time, it would seem. But as I watch New York sweeping the primaries with Democratic socialists winning, kicking long-term Congress members out of their seats, I am having more hope than I have ever had, and that is saying something under this fascist dictatorship that we find ourselves in. So with that said, I want for you to get involved. I want for you to get involved, not just by watching videos and sharing and reposting. I want you to find your favorite candidate. I want you to go to their website, and I want you to sign up for something, to volunteer, stuff an envelope. Uh, you know, I- we don't lick stamps anymore, but put stamps on envelopes. Um, you can text bank. You can phone bank. If you can't door knock, do something. Do something, please. Our country needs the American Army, me and you. Me and you, the people truly fighting for our freedom. It needs us. That means the people who've never done this before. That's you. That's okay. You can still get involved. It's scary. Uh, sometimes we don't like to do things that are uncomfortable, that put us in positions we're not comfortable with, but now is not the time to be bashful, my friends. Now is the time to get off your butt and get involved in any way possible for you, whatever that looks like for you, but it's gotta be doing more than a repost on a social media app. That's not enough anymore. Put the sign in your yard. Put the f*****g sign in your yard, you guys. I look up and down my street, and I know who they're voting for because they're all friends, right? I know who they're voting for, but they will not put the goddamn sign in their yard because, "Well, I don't think, yeah, it's, it's a, it's a tumultuous political situation, and I don't want people to know who I'm voting for." Put the f*****g sign in your yard, and have some goddamn balls and some bravery. People are getting themselves arrested on the Capitol steps in their Air Force uniform for you. Put the sign in your f*****g yard We need American fighters, me and you together as a team. Your neighbor, your neighbor's neighbor, the people behind you, the people on the corner, get them together and go door-knocking and inform the public and get everyone you can involved. We need everybody involved. And I know that this is uncomfortable, but it has to be done or we will never get out of this, friends. Never   📍 So while we're on this topic of electing of- elected officials, um, I need for you to know that I'm not going to rest. I will, I will spend my very last breath fighting for what I'm about to show you is some of my, some of the list of demands that I will be requiring of the people I helped to get elected. Um, they're re- they're referring to the new Democratic, uh, Socialist candidates who were just elected. They're calling them Squad 2.0, just so that you're aware.   📍 In no particular order, but kind of. Okay, 📍 Medicare for All. We have been waiting for far too long for a Medicare for All program. We are the richest country in the nation. Healthcare is a human right. We shouldn't have to die because we can't afford My List of Demands it 📍   📍 No more tax dollars to Israel. None None. Not a single tax dollar, not a single, um, yeah, treaty, nothing. No more cooperation with that country. They are genocidal maniacs. They've proven that they are the terrorists in the Middle East, and it is time that the United States as a whole completely divest from Israel. Until they can find their way back to, uh, you know, not being genocidal maniacs, returning the land to the Palestinians, using their tax dollars to rebuild the homes of the people and, and the families whose lives they destroyed, maybe, maybe there might be some cooperation. That's one of my demands. Cutting and cutting them off completely because no other country, you guys, none, no other country gives those motherfuckers the amount of money we give them. Zero They are supposed to use this $30 billion to, uh, equip their military with American-made weaponry, and, and there is now no longer this requirement that they spend all of it o…

  📍SHOW TRANSCRIPT

Hi everybody. Welcome to Activist Collective. Um, it's been a few minutes since I've been able to do an episode because life is busy, but today we are so lucky and I'm so excited to have, uh, Joanna Whaley with us. Joanna is running in the second state congressional district, Joanna. House District, excuse me, state House District. Um, and she is one of my favorite people. I, she doesn't know that. I've been following her for, for at least over a year now. I've been following Joanna for over a year now, because you're actually, um, I think you're security team is my best friend's company. my Yeah. Yeah. So, um, she told me about you and I've been following you ever since. And Joanna, I just gotta tell you, your, your, your platform, how, however simple it is, it actually reaches. So many working Americans. So I wanna introduce Joanna Whaley to you all so that you all get, um, a glimpse of who this amazing woman is. And hopefully if you're in her district and you get to see this, you get a better idea of who she is. So Joanna, um, why don't you go ahead and introduce yourself and then I'll start asking you some questions. world that you know. I know it's sad that I have to have a security team, right. But, uh, but I do, um, one of my. Second biggest campaign expenses is armed security. Fun, Wow. for a house race. Wow. Um, but hi everybody. I'm, I'm Uh, I am running for the Michigan House of Representatives. Uh, the four cities that are in my district are Allen Park, Lincoln Park, Melvindale, and Southgate. Um, and cities are, you know. many in our community kind of treat them as drive through cities. As cities, you kind of drive through to get to other things. our city has, our communities have so much heart and they have so much to give and they're such wonderful people. And I have really getting getting to know the people of my district, uh, way. Um. But I have a wild background. Uh, yes. I, I am a trans woman, uh, came out almost five years ago. We're coming up on five years, uh, next month. And, uh, or no, this month, oh my gosh, this weekend. well, congratulations. be out. Thank you. I'll be out five you know, I, uh, I, I did what every, uh, closeted trans girl does. I became an evangelical pastor, and. And, uh, had a long career in the evangelical megachurch Wow. um, and was trained deeply in Christian um, by many of our state's, most influential pastors. And so, you know, I, I. is where I came from. So you can imagine, uh, many people are already starting to do the math of what an evolution that had to be to go from evangelical Christian nationalist to transgender progressive candidate for I can't get my jaw off the floor. I'm like. Yeah. And, and we're that timeline and why, why that timeline matters right now. And I think, um, my community is ready for that type of leadership, uh, that understands the full spectrum of the political, um, the political world. We, we all Do you still practice as clergy in any way? I, so I left congregational work when I came out. I, I shouldn't say I left. I got shoved right. of congregational work. I I was forced to fired from my job, which. Just so everyone knows in all 50 states, if you work for a religious nonprofit, they can discriminate against you based on gender and sexual orientation. Um, and so I got fired for my job here in Michigan, one of the biggest mega churches in the state. And, uh, and so what I did is over the years, I, I had to pick my life up. I ended up going to seminary. I studied what's called liberation theology. I went to a very progressive seminary. Um, and I went to Wartburg Theological Seminary in Iowa, which is progressive in Iowa. Right. Um, and I studied liberation theology, which is the marginalized people within divine systems and, uh. so I, studied that. and I became a clinical chaplain. So I a lot of our area hospital systems as a clergy member, uh, doing spiritual care for people in trauma and end of life ICU settings. I, I do hospice work. I am with people, um, in some of the worst moments of their life. And I, so I'm still a clergy member, That's amazing. but I do it That is that, that is such a, a massive give back to your community. Um, that I don't know if you get recognized for. So as an atheist, I will say thank you for doing that for the people who need it. That's amazing. I I had no idea. That's I reaction. when a Ooh, I mean, ooh, I don't, right. I don't know if I would say, uh, but I, I, the, the fact that you, where you came from. To where you are now, that is such a, a, a complete three. Like is it a 180 a total turnaround? We don't wanna do 360 'cause you're back where you started. Right. But a, a total 180. I mean, that is amazing. Um, so are you Christian or Catholic or say? um, is Okay. It is my, it is what I consider to be language, um, spiritually, um, as a clinical chaplain, I. I study and I work with inside of a lot of different religious spaces, but I, my, my identity is still Okay. Um, and so, uh, to me that it's um, that I hold onto that. 'cause I think that God is so unexplainable. Um, and, and to some, if you're an atheist, you're like, is that unexplainable, I, and I have, I have the most respect for people in their religions. And, um, I think people like you who are holding onto their Christian identity is important because of so many people who are trying to rebrand it, I guess in this hateful, as you stated, Christian nationalist way. And that's kind of, it's, it's like this dark cloud that's just like seeping into our, our country and, and. I don't know that there's a, an end in sight, and so I think people with your, uh, true background knowledge and understanding of it is important to keep talking about it. And I like right now, if we look around the, our political world, we have so many politicians trying to use the name of Jesus to make people go into compliance with their doctrine. We, and, and on the left, we do not have people who are prepared and equipped to fight that fight theologically. And this is a theological battle for many Republicans. have to have to have people on the left who can theologically fight um, yep. and, and I'm, I'm telling you, the State House, the like Matt Hall and his, his little queens are not ready to argue the Bible with a progressive trans woman. I, God, I would pay to see that Joanna. I, if it's, to see that, make that happen. 'cause I would pay, Yes. Matt Hall is a monster. I'm gonna say that out in public. Matt Hall is an absolute monster. You don't have to agree or say anything. Um, this is my own personal opinion. I think he is diabolical and, uh, he, it, him being there was the worst thing Michigan ever did. I mean of its history. Yes. lot of intentionally, I believe. Intentionally. Yep. He's trying to turn Michigan and the Republican portion into like this, this arm of maga and he's trying to copycat everything that he did, but him. I have, I have questions for you, Joanna. I woke up yesterday morning. Um, and I, the first thing that I saw, and I don't know why this was on my, was an article about you and how you had been, I'm, I'm calling it an attack because that's, there's no other way to put it, but somebody had filed a complaint with the clerk about. You saying that you didn't put the right name or you, you didn't change your name legally the right way, and therefore you either needed to be dead named on the ballot or kicked off the ballot. And I was shocked at who it was because it is a member of the Democratic Party and his name was Frank Ti. I had never heard of this man in my life and I have done some research since. This is a business owner. He's a local, him and his brother, I believe they have a family business. Um, he, he was, um, uh, he held a seat in the 13th District, so I think that's what it was. And out of nowhere, because he's running for the same seat you are. Is that correct? Yeah, that he just erroneously decided that he knew everything about your life and …

lets talk about the primaries a bit. Lets talk about how it’s ok to vote for the person not endorsed by the DNC. We keep telling republicans not to vote against their own interest, lets not do it too.

Please remember friends, this podcast remains free because it is so important to stay connected and voice your opposition. IT IS THE PATRIOTICT THING TO DO. However, donations are greatly appreciated as I do this work for free.

https://venmo.com/u/mommadadjeans5

https://cash.app/$mommadadjeans