VIOLET SUMMER ZINE ISS. 11 1
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© 2021 Violet Summer Zine, All Rights Reserved. Published by: Mel Writes, LLC
Source/Contact Info: violetsummercompany@gmail.com www.violetsummerzine.com
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Urban Sustainability & Crypto
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COLLABORATORS
MELISSA HENDERSON
JASMIN MATTHEWS
MELANIE ELIZABETH
Melissa Henderson is a prolific writer and digital media executive with past roots at Ebony, Essence, Elle, and The Huffington Post. Her specialty is urban storytelling mixed with an international approach. In 2016, she founded Violet Summer, a design and technologydriven boutique writing company. Melissa is currently enrolled in an OnDeck fellowship.
Jasmin is a sophomore at New York University and plays college basketball. When she’s not studying or shooting hoops, she enjoys learning about new trends in streetwear fashion, collecting sneakers, and listening to music. She chose NYU because she aspires to write and/or do marketing for sports companies or fashion magazines.
Melanie Elizabeth is a media agent that focuses on helping bloggers, podcasters, social media influencers, and small businesses engage and grow their audience.
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GENAIL MCKINLEY
ANA TAVARES
VELTSON BASTIEN
Genny McKinley (aka “GennyMack”) founded theEATschool as a plantbased philosophy. Her mission is to empower women to heal with plants and prioritize oneself to live abundantly.
Ana Tavares is a Lisbonbased designer and visual artist. Lua has designed and created visual content for several magazines, books, and artistic projects. She’s interested in projects with social, artistic, and political relevance.
Veltson is a 3D/VR product designer based in California and works with Muse.Place to create customizable nocode experiences for clients in innovative spaces. Muse is a Y Combinator startup and can be found on Product Hunt.
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FOUNDER’S LETTER Dear Readers, Issue 11 marks the five year anniversary of dropping zines every summer, a beach read, something to pass the time with on the train, a piece a therapy and a resources that takes like two seconds to grasp the concept. I started Violet Summer out of the need to create. Today, this same mission has been the through line for documenting the history of this brand, which has evolved into a global creative studio, a national home decor brand, and now a VR platform. When I re-located to Miami, Florida, I was burnt out from the New York hustle. I wanted to be immersed in a tropical environment and rebranded myself in a tech-crypto community that inspired me to create my future. If these poeple could do it, I could totally do whatever the fuck I wanted and that’s the vibe I embraced. Miami is a lifestyle and more than a quick South Beach vacay. My Miami-energy birthed
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a whole way of publishing content with futuristic formats. We’ve been sending newsletters, reporting on digital rights, and other general tech news for years. And I’m finally starting to see this all come full circle. I wanted to make VR accessible to all people without a VR headset or a fancy computer screen. Today, if you’re reading this you probably had to download this zine from our VR world. This is the future of Web 3.0, a place where worlds will exist in layers and creative ideas will portrayed as immersive experiences in just the few clicks. I’m equally proud to amplify collaborators from all backgrounds and super thankful they took the time out of their lives to be part of Issue 11 zine on Crypto. I hope to offer a glimpse inside the future of money and sustainability. With love and humility,
-Melissa 9
AWARD-WINNING CLIMATE ACTIVIST BY: YESSENIA FUMES
Although I believe in collective action to combat the climate crisis, we must also recognize the power of our individual actions. For me, that’s opting to ride my e-bike or take the subway instead of driving my Prius. It’s also purchasing local products at the grocery store when the option is available. Every little thing matters – but we must also strive for systemic changes that can allow everyone to take part in a decarbonized society. That means talking to your loved ones about voting and about supporting local candidates who are proposing strong policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Read more of their work @yessfum on Instagram on in Atmos Magazine.
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FEATURES
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Founder’s letter World’s First sustainable Clothing line have Plans to travel in summer 2021? our summer Products DAOS Friends of Violet Summer / ai-Powered mel’s boutique VR Experience ComPosting, What is that? urban sustainability reaChing mass adoPtion neW york is very muCh alive using bloCkChain For good are bitClout Creators the neW Wave? CryPto in the City
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WORLD’S FIRST SUSTAINABLE CLOTHING LINE Describe your brand. Andagain is a luxury sustainable fashion label based in Los Angeles. We focus on bespoke garments and handcrafted zero waste textiles using fabric remnants. What does sustainability mean to you and your business? To me, sustainability means doing things with intention. From sourcing remnants and deadstock fabrics to making different design decisions, we really focus on slowing down and ensuring that we are creating art and not simply pushing over consumption. What are your favorite materials to work with? I love working with leather scrap and vintage denim. Do you choose garments by material quality and how many pieces of clothing you can get out of it? (I don’t really do this process anymore!)
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How has TikTok expanded your business model and ethos? Tiktok has really helped us to grow our business by connecting us with so many people who care about our mission and enjoy seeing our creative process. It also allows for so much transparency which we love. How do you strategize on what to design next? We like to design when we source or come across materials. It feels like we can focus on one type of textile or one type of garment rather than attempting to design many garments on a seasonal calendar. This process is more creatively free and overall allows us to tell a more focused story about how the garments come together. You teach sewing courses…. Which is becoming a lost art! How’s that experience been going? Who is your target audience? Yes! I love teaching sewing classes. I mostly teach to high school or college students who are looking to pursue a career in fashion or are learning how to upcycle vintage clothing. I like to teach the different fabric manipulation techniques that have become a signature to our brand and classes focused on constructing a garment. Overall I love teaching these classes and getting to know so many aspiring designers from around the world. What’s inspiring you right now? Right now I am inspired by really heavy tactical outerwear ideas! I am working on a new collaboration I can’t talk too much about but hopefully will be sharing within the next couple of months. What was your biggest accomplishment during quarantine? I think my biggest accomplishment during quarantine was my idea to start teaching classes and bring this education to fans of the brand!
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HAVE PLANS TO TRAVEL THIS SUMMER 2021? BY:MELANIE ELIZABETH Since the world shut down in March 2020, we all have been quarantined inside our homes. Some of us have enjoyed the solitude by ourselves or with our family. However, most of us were anxious and, overall, missed human contact. The biggest thing that this pandemic took from us was the freedom to travel across the globe. As the world slowly starts to get back to a new normal, everyone has started to plan their vacations for this summer. I’m here to offer you some helpful tips and resources as you get ready to enjoy your summer vacation. I love traveling and was disappointed when I realized COVID-19 wasn’t going anywhere any time soon. Fast forward to March 2021: I refused to celebrate my birthday at home because of the pandemic. I hadn’t traveled for a whole year and I was itching to go somewhere, even if it was only domestic. I started to research places that were open to United States 16
travelers. I found an article on Google that gave me a list of countries that were allowing in United States citizens. This article continues to get updated as more countries allow in people who show a negative COVID-19 test or people who have been fully vaccinated (https:// travel. usnews.com/features/where-can-americans- travelright-now). A lot of countries are still having travelers show proof of a negative COVID-19 test about three to five days before traveling, but you can get free COVID test at any CVS, Walgreens, or Rite-Aid. If you also visit your state’s website, you’ll find they provide location sites where they offer rapid PCR tests. Your state website also gives you location sites where you can get the vaccine. I opted to travel to Puerto Rico for my birthday weekend. When arriving in Puerto Rico, I had to fill out an online health questionnaire form before leaving the airport. 17
Upon exiting the airport, national guards and health workers are there to approve the form or have you take a COVID-19 test. Throughout my weekend stay, I received text messages each morning asking if I had any COVID-19 symptoms. I did not have to quarantine in my hotel and was able to move around the island freely – as long as I had my mask on. Puerto Rico had a strict 11pm curfew. I felt safe overall through all of the COVID-19 guidelines that were put in place. In April, my friend and I went to Los Angeles, California, for a couple of weeks. Traveling domestically was a little bit easier, as we didn’t have to take a COVID test. If you haven’t been to California, let me be the first to tell you that Los Angeles is very big and wide. All the tourist places or cities that you want to visit are far apart and you need a car. It made me curious about their public transportation, as a lot of LA natives said they do not take the metro. Los Angeles has a big issue with air pollution, which I noticed while driving to San Francisco. LA is committed to solving this problem by transitioning to low or zero emission transportation sources. The resolution is providing more public electric vehicle charging stations. The MTA bus is to be powered by 100% alternative fuels, such as compressed natural gas. They are also creating more metro lines in LA. This will assist with the 18
urban sustainability plan that LA has been committed to since the early 2000s (Read “Pathways to Urban Sustainability: Challenges and Opportunities for the United States” at NAP.edu. National Academies Press: OpenBook. (2016). https://www.nap.edu/read/23551/ chapter/6#48). As you plan to travel during the summer, please remember to check each state and country’s rules and regulations during COVID-19. Most airlines and hotels are still waiving changes or canceling fees, but I would check their cancellation policies before booking your trip. Also, purchase travel insurance so that you’re covered if anything happens. I hope you have a safe and fun vacation!
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COCOON ECO-LODGES IN COMPORTA, PORTUGAL
Cabins for glamping located 45-mins.outside of Lisbon. Amenities include open-air gym and swimming pond.
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PLANT-BASED, ALL-NATURAL, VEGAN SKINCARE
Mask Me Pls: hydrating yet firming gel mask inspired by the founders’ home country of Ethiopia. @leyerdbeauty
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HOT DAO SUMMER
BY:MELISSA HENDERSON STRUCTURING A DIVERSE COMPANY OF THE FUTURE Companies don’t go global; people do. The emergence of decentralized autonomous organizations, known as DAOs, could replace topdown hierarchy structures with more self-managementdriven strategies. In a recent Trust Barometer study conducted by Edelman, business institutions rank higher than the media and government when it comes to trust. The shade is real. The survey also found that among the 33,000 respondents, they have little trust in societal leaders – including CEOs and journalists – and are more likely to trust local leaders and familiar people within the community. The attraction of DAOs is that they have the range to eliminate barriers to building communities – a range that promotes forward-thinking collaboration embedded in 24
the blockchain. NFT art platform Foundation recently highlighted several creative groups who have taken leaps into operating in the DAO space, including Twitter-organized group Pleaser, which recently went in on a rare NFT piece from political figure Edward Snowden. HerStoryDAO founder Cyn Behati is also forming a DOA to capture and monetize black female storytelling. MODEL 1 - STRUCTURES Traditional Centralized Organization
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Decentralized Autonomous Organizations
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Collaborator
Blockchain
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Although use cases are still developing, we cannot overlook the fact that these organizations are a very new way of doing business, whether from a non-profit or for-profit viewpoint. DAOs aim to (and will) switch the game up. They are the business version of that saying, “what are you bringing to the cookout?” Usually, you flex with your best dish or bring something that every cookout needs, like paper plates, ice, etc. The same 26
can be applied to DAOs. They could be viewed as for-purpose business structures, where everyone benefits and there are no secrets because the role of the blockchain is to synthesize. They may compete with or provide solutions for companies within the same industry – or perhaps share the same mission statements. Model 2 provides a competitive analysis of DAOs and how they function with other open-source companies. Open-source is an ideology where everything can be cloned and remixed to how you want it. If you buy a pair of sneakers and you don’t like the color, you could recreate them to your liking and then sell your remixed version to your community without getting sued. The original person who made the sneakers would still get credit because they’re the originator. This has never been the case for traditional companies. Intellectual property is locked deep in vaults, along with money, gold, and other valuables, untraceable on balance sheets or not made available to the employees that keep the company fresh and prospering. This is why DAOs may be more attractive to black-owned companies who have been disproportionately left out of capitalistic bull runs. Yet, the majority of black-owned businesses have an underlying mission to empower their communities. 27
MODEL 2 - COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS THE FUTURE OF WORK ECONOMY
CREATORS
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According to Investopedia: “Ninety-six percent of Black-owned businesses were non employer firms, compared to 80% of all small businesses. Thirty-two percent of Black-owned employer firms were in the healthcare and social
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services sector.” The opportunities are endless for individuals who are motivated by the idea of functioning in a for-purpose world. Here are three ways DAOs shake up the economically-sound cultural landscape: 1 - DAOs are led by no hierarchical structures and rely on blockchain governance. Model 2 best illustrates how existing entities can follow governance with open- source signals. DAOs consist of computer protocols that make decisions based on pre-set nodes tied to incentives and rewards. Imagine a world of employee self-management, absent of corporate policing that gets in the way of success and growth. A world where tasks are shared on an unbiased scale and new technologies, like Filecoin and Meroxa Data, are used to shape the future of automated processes for multi-functioning teams. DAOs are the entry point to get people into the Crypto environment. As we move into a world where NFTs and smart contracts become mass adopted, additional layers for how we function as a society will also need to connect – to marry these concepts on what business truly means in the 21st century.
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2 - With DAOs, tomorrow’s creative agencies, NGOs, and Africa-based fintech companies can re-establish and switch the game up, centering it on people-driven interests and rewarding good contributions and behavior. Currently, black people make up about 12.3 percent of the US workforce and black women are starting new businesses faster than any other demographic. If we zero in on why black women are starting their own businesses, it’s because they don’t benefit from traditional business models that historically weren’t made for them to succeed in the first place. DAOs are about wealth redistribution and how creative people can be with doing business. The late NAACP Political Strategist Ella Jo Baker was legendary in organizing movements based on nontraditional models. In this JStor excerpt below, the well-known mother of the civil rights movement writes about capitalism and why it has harmed blacks in the workforce: “The roots ... of the Bronx Slave Market spring from: (1) the general ignorance of and apathy to- wards organized labor action; (2) the artificial barriers that separate the interest of the relief administrators and investigators from that of their “case loads,” the white collar and professional worker from the laborer and domestic; and (3) organized labor’s limited concept of 30
exploitation, which permits it to fight vigorously to se- cure itself against evil, yet passively or actively aids and abets the ruthless destruction of Negroes.” -- ELLA BAKER, ‘BLACK WOMEN’S WORK’ AND ACTIVIST INTELLECTUALS via JStor 3 - As we begin to refine the way we build products to scale across Africa and Asia and into the global diaspora, we note that DAOs are borderless and speak all languages. Business owners won’t have to register a company to add a new region of interest. Federal taxes or unpredictable international legal ramifications – which keep many businesses from expanding to global markets – will be reallocated to creators, organizers, and tokens for the betterment of the movement. It’s become conventional wisdom in the business world that companies don’t go global; people do. I completely agree. People have been (and will still be) an intellectual asset. Staying influential in a changing technological space means surviving and thriving on business trends, while still being able to dream up new ways to innovate and forecast what comes next.
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Key Takeaways: - DAOs, commonly known as decentralized autonomous organizations, aim to operate shared system rewards and incentives, as well as create attainable circular economies within a for-purpose business model. The majority of black-owned and operated companies cater to healthcare and social services, which – if funded and exposed to adequate resources – can simultaneously provide solutions to black America’s most pressing issues. Could DAOs be the pathway to a better organized world? What are ways we could efficiently onboard organizations to this new way of doing business? A16z Shoutouts: Foundation App, Filecoin, Rally. io, Bitski Black-led DAOs: HerstoryDao
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Document Links: 1 - https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/1999/12/ pdf/dillinge.pdf 2 - https://www.coursera.org/lecture/internationalrelations-theory/models-of-governance-zCWRb 3 - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1B1T-APC7DY TqtaQ87XN3aBxKgu6TvDUa2gHRVMwz-dc/edit Black-Owned Public Companies 4 - https://www.investopedia.com/black-owned-publiccompanies-5076818 Self-Management 5 - https://hbr.org/2016/07/beyond-the-holacracy-hype 2021 Edelman Trust Barometer 6 - https://www.edelman.com/sites/g/files/aatuss191/ files/2021-01/2021-edelman-trust-barometer.pdf 7 - Over $1B Managed by DAOs, Up From $10M Since Last Year
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Violet Summer is a proud supporter of Lamp Black Lit, a 501c-3 organization committed to the advancement of black literature through direct aid, programs for writers and readers of black literature, and a magazine dedicated to voices from the black diaspora. Join us this summer for our first ever writing workshops in poetry, fiction, and criticism. Participants will meet for seven weeks on Zoom to discuss literature, workshop their writing, and provide constructive feedback for their peers. Participants will be selected on the strength of their application, with priority given to those who have applied to our Direct Aid program (i.e. black writers in need). The Summer 2021 workshops are offered at no cost to participants thanks to the generous support of donors. www.lampblacklit.com IG: @lampblack_lit 34
Copy ai is your bff moving forward for all things, captions, emails, cover letters, breakup letters... Sign up here: https://www.copy.ai/?via=violetsummer
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#WEOUTSIDE M.E. BOUTIQUE
IG: @thisismeboutiquenyc www.thisismeboutique.com
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EXPERIENCE LA PRAIRIE’S PLATINUM RARE ELIXIR IN VR
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ENTER THE VR WORLD www.violetsummerzine.com
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DIGITAL ART REIMAGINED If you’ve been living under a rock, then you’ll be really surprised to hear that we’ve birthed a whole new artform on the Ethereum blockchain called NFTs. 2021 is just different.
Non-fungible tokens have exploded onto the creative scene, with many artists of all mediums racing to claim a stake on the Ethereum blockchain. Last October, I met with a South African developer on possibly creating a Violet Summer token. Since then, NFTs have really exploded onto the scene in an amazing way. I minted a token to celebrate the beginning of our Crypto in the City newsletter. 40
I quietly minted my first NFT on Rarible in November of 2020. Since then, I’ve learned so much about the space and the endless opportunities it can represent for artists. For one, this is an entirely new medium for artists – one that only comes around once in a few lifetimes, like a comet. Artists will have the chance to own their intellectual and creative capital in full. Minting your first NFT may be daunting, but understanding why this is an important part of your business model moving forward is crucial. As I type, Christie’s Auction house paid over $69M for a digital art piece called “The First 5000 days” by Beeple, a highly sought-after graphic designer. Yes, you read that right. The work is basically a collage of smaller images, meaning you have to zoom in super close to see the image in full scale. What Christie didn’t know was that some of these images are offensive to various ethnicities and races. Can art be racist? Of course it can. Should we give it a platform? That’s debatable to many people. The fact that Beeple became famous for his art on blockchain, a public ledger where anyone who has ETH can mint and trade, is a reflection of the whole idea of NFTs. Nevertheless, the NFT market is BOOMING! Digital-first artists are finally having a moment and a platform to display their art and get paid for it. This is only the beginning of how NFTs will evolve.
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iot: MOON CATS RESCUE COMPLETED
From what I can piece together from the story, a team of anonymous developers and artists put together a website called www.mooncatrescue.com to save the Genesis MoonCats from space — the moon, Mars, various planets, I suppose. These are stray cats and they can be found in the metaverse. You have to connect your MetaMask wallet to rescue them and then put them up for adoption, which is basically selling them for a shit-ton of ETH. Thousands of people in the Ethereum community 42
logged into this website and completed the various tasks with the reward of finding a cat, which is like a gamified way to unlock internet content. The reward was a digital, pixelated colorful cat that could then be minted to display as a member of the community. The site quickly went viral when people started to realize the value of the interesting project, since most of the digital cats ended up on sites like OpenSea! Sadly, I was too late in rescuing my own kitty! All the stray cats from the moon are now up for adoption for thousands of dollars on this site. Some lucky users even named the cats!
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FUTURISTIC SAMIZDAT
NADYA TOLOKONNIKOVA FROM PUSSY RIOT DROPPED HER FIRST NFT ON CLUBHOUSE APP I remember reading blogs about the Pussy Rioters in college, when I was studying women’s rights and global gender equity movements against oppressive government figures. Nadya’s Panic Attack NFT launch raised over $128,000 for survivors of domestic violence. According to the UN Women’s Council, an estimated 736 million women – almost one in three – have been subjected to intimate partner violence, non-partner sexual violence, or both at least once in their life! That means 30 percent of women aged 15 and older will be victims of domestic violence. Violence against women is a global issue and hearing Nadya speak on Clubhouse about her passion for women’s rights over the last 20 years was a full-circle moment for me! The NFT video is already in talks of becoming a videogame. Check it out here.
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ROCK IN MEGABITES NFT EMILY LAZAR PUSHES THE BOUNDARIES OF ROCK MUSIC September Mourning pushes the boundaries of rock music and the way it’s distributed and consumer. Lead singer Emily Lazer, is no stranger to Bitcoin or Cryptocurrency so when NFTs first came on the scene this year, it was a smooth transition. She is the first female to release an original Rock / Heavy Metal NFT* on OpenSea and her fourth NFT launch on Foundation is highly-anticipated amongst her core fan base. September Mourning’s NFTs come as animation-style comics. The digital art is created using black and white graphics or super edgy color schemes. Think of a rock poster but as an movable image. Owners of the band’s custom NFTs are also granted exclusive rewards and benefits. This is the future of musicians and music. *September Mourning NFT on page 47.
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A note from Emily Lazar: The storyline of September Mourning was spawned from a place of intense grief. I had lost my best friend to drugs during the month of September and was searching for answers to the question, “Why him?” I have always been obsessed with death and this particular loss was a catalyst for me. If I could not get the answer I needed elsewhere, I would make a place where I could. I dove headfirst into writing and, as an homage to my friend, developed a world of the unknown filled with supernatural creatures that shape destinies. It was a labor of love in a time of grief and what is grief if not love persevering? VIEW NFTS HERE
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CRYPTO ART HOW-TO PARTICIPATE IN THE NFT SPACE 1. Create a wallet and convert your fiat currency to crypto. Coinbase and Gemini have Wallet extensions. This is a separate app you'll have to download. 2. Create an account on OpenSea, Foundation, Super Rare, or Rarible. Connect your wallet to the NFT platform. You’ll need specific wallets when it comes to these exchanges. Some platforms will accept Visa/ Mastercard so you may not even need to buy Crypto. 3. For buyers: Bid on the NFT. Wait for the NFT artist to respond. Complete the transaction by accepting their offer. Some NFTs will come with unlockable content so make sure you connect with the creator for special NFT offers. 4. For creatives: Download the MetaMask app and account and follow the minting directions. For minting or buying a smart contract, some exchanges charge gas fees for the digital labor required to code your work on a blockchain ledger. Once you’re done with this process, you will have a blockchain key that basically documents where your work exists. If you’re a buyer, your purchase will also be documented with a key of words / numbers to show which wallet address owns the digital art. 48
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COMPOSTING, WHAT IS THAT? BY:GENAIL MCKINLEY It’s unfortunate that more than 50% of food in America goes to waste, partially due to consumers not being aware of how to dispose of it. The organic matter in your garbage does not break down in the landfill because it does not have access to air. Composting allows soil to grow into richness, aiding in the nutrient-density of our foods. Composting isn’t complicated. No compost bin in the building? If you’re in NYC, check out @grownyc for sites to drop off. If you’re not in NYC, Google a compost site near you. Keep your compost in the freezer until drop off. Or, better yet, buy a compost bin.
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URBAN SUSTAINAB RIGHT, NOT A PRIV PROTECT THE HOO
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BILITY IS A VLEDGE. OD.
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The theme is urban sustainability and we are exploring ways people in different communities are redefining the green narrative. We have until 2030 to get our 54
shit together. What we do individually will matter just as much as what other big companies are doing to combat their own carbon footprint. 55
The future of sustainability will be focused on smart cities. It’s already a thing; it’s a growing movement. It’s going to get bigger with the development of cutting-edge technologies. The first step is to educate yourself on the basics of technology and start with small changes in your environment.
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A South Korean Post Graduate Student Cho Jaeweon, has created an eco-friendly toilet connected to a laboratory that transforms poop into renewable energy. "If we think out of the box, faeces has precious value to make energy and manure. I have put this value into ecological circulation," Cho said. The poop is converted to energy and that energy is used to mine a virtual currency called Ggool, which means honey in Korean. Every person who defecates in this toilet earns 10 Ggools, which would could then be used to buy products at a store. Via REUTERS
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Imagine a city with high levels of employment in the renewable energy sector. A city where every individual has control over their power consumption and generation. A city where food and materials can be produced locally, and we have minimized our 61 transportation footprint.
REACHING MASS ADOPTION
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IDEAS BY: VIOLET SUMMER
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The social issues around climate change is becoming a major threat to our well-being. The rising temperatures can have many negative effects, including wildlife extinction, water scarcity, and sea-level rise. The rich are contributing the most to this problem because they use more electricity to power their expensive lifestyles. But what happens to the middle class? Those struggling to keep the lights on and the first to lose connection in a storm. 64
The Violet Summer Community Board's goal in the next five year's is to train under-served regions that are the most affected by climate change and provide valuable resources to start their own energy renewable sources. The first step is educating on how to install solar panels on homes, making them accessible for everyone without price gauging. Everyone should have access to a clean living environment. 65
The emergence of technology in our lives has been seen as a threat to our way of living. We’ve been told that “robots are going to steal our jobs,” “artificial intelligence will bring about the end of the world,” and “the Internet is going to ruin our children.” It’s not surprising that many have fallen into entertaining messages of fear, doubt, and division. But we need to get ahead of the curve and use it to our advantage -- to improve our lives And yet, it's hard to convince people to adopt and use it to optimize the future. We need to lean into the unknown and take risks with discernment. Everything that's beautiful, is not always good for you. Trust your gut and move with strategy. Stay ahead of the curve.
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Today in the United States, we’ve been slow at establishing digital rights. We do not have a data protection law that prevents companies from collecting sensitive information about how we interact and sell it to third parties for profit. It was only until recent that websites have slowly adopted cookie policies for web-development and digital marketing businesses. It has been put in place in response to the EU E-Privacy Directive. There's no way to really crack down on companies using information they collect about us to their advantage. We do not have laws that prevent government agencies from collecting sensitive information about us especially in regard to violent acts of domestic and foreign terrorism. It's up to the FBI/CIA to respond, and then we have to pray for justice. We are not powerless against this state of affairs. The right to privacy is one of the most important rights we have as human beings.
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Besides, we use the Internet more and more for things like shopping, socializing in VR, and accessing vital services, we are getting used to the idea of handing over vast quantities of data to companies in exchange for convenience. But as we move into a world of VR and AR experiences, we need a community to watch out for us in the metaverse. 70
Interacting in VR will become mass adopted as more companies build programs to be more inclusive to people with disabilities, but we must beware of the harmful behavior that can ensue while traversing the metaverse. With Facebook's Horizon Workrooms making waves in the business space, to VR Chat taking over the gamer culture, we'll be in a vulnerable position not to 71 think about safety and security first.
In the standard online model, you go to a server and download a program or buy a device. In the VR model, you step inside a program in a virtual space. If you want to talk to someone here, you have to be there too. You body is as much your avatar as your clothes or voice or typing speed. Unless we provide ways of managing this vulnerability, entire classes of people will remain excluded from all experience except that of being tormented online. Our collective responsibility is to keep asking questions and don't stop saying "no." Challenging the information we are given and always assessing the entire situation. It is about nuance. We can also start to enforce and protect digital rights within our own organizations. I believe that respect for data privacy and confidentiality is fundamental to online collaboration. The tyranny of the majority may very well be a threat to our individualism, but it is the very nature of society, as we know it, foundation of liberty.
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Furthermore, we need to embrace a zero tech waste program. Disposing of electronics, decreasing radiation, and getting rid of bullets and other harsh objects is a must. Growing up in the inner-city, I remember finding a bombshell capsule of sorts in someone’s yard. It was more or less 74 a piece of abandoned metal. Our
communities have a right exist in a clean environment, to maintain natural elements and not be destroyed by big tech mining rigs. We can adopt eco-friendly blockchains like Tezos and Cardano. Let the trees grow and the squirrels roam free. We have to find ways to power our technology other than abusing fossil fuels. 75
NEW YORK IS VERY MUCH ALIVE IG SERIES FINALE
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BY:JASMIN MATTHEWS This school year was like no other. To know that I finished my freshman year amid a pandemic and will soon enter my junior year while still trying to find answers on how to get back to a new normal is insane. While the pandemic took away a lot of opportunities, it also made you see the good in everything as well. This year I got to spend more time with amazing people at school in the city that I love. So many people asked me, “What do you do in the city in the middle of a pandemic? That’s not even fun.” I beg to differ. Over the past nine months, I had the chance to experience the beauty of NYC in the simplest and safest ways. Maybe it was being trapped inside for so long that made the simple things seem amazing, but I’d like to think that it was the magic of the Big Apple that did the job. It may not be the same as it was before to a lot of people, but every time I looked out my dorm room window, I was reminded how grateful I am to be in such a one-of-a-kind place. Things are always what you make of them. I’m glad that the city sparkles the same way in my eyes and I still have the hope and belief that it’s very much alive. 77
USING BLOCKCHAIN FOR GOOD BY:MELISSA HENDERSON
Four alternatives ways of making the world a safer place for our communities: 1. We can use the concept of blockchain to guard our communities and hold each other accountable. 2. We need to eliminate racism with mandatory social justice classes for all law enforcers, with a focus on building emotional intelligence. 3. We can identify bad apples using facial recognition technology. 4. We need to demilitarize and de-fund the current state-level police forces that have horrible “benefits”, like banking in settlement fees for their racist acts of terror towards the citizens they are supposed to be protecting and serving in the first place. 78
Insights: According to the Urban Institute, “In 2017, state and local governments spent $115 billion on police (4 percent of state and local direct general expenditures) and $79 billion on corrections (3 percent).” We must re-allocate budgets on the micro-level, within states, to materialize our demands of defunding the police.
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1. WE CAN USE THE CONCEPT OF BLOCKCHAIN TO GUARD OUR COMMUNITIES AND HOLD EACH OTHER ACCOUNTABLE.
Problem: Over 400,000 children go missing in the US every year. Solution: We can use the concept and platform of blockchain to protect and preserve our communities, while keeping track of children when they go missing. Here’s how: This is the platform behind the recordkeeping technology, infamous for making Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies wildly successful. These “blocks” store information submitted in public databases. Anyone should be able submit to these blocks with a custom hashcode that is checked and balanced within the system, using the same integrations as the way bitcoin functions. “Much like you and I have names to distinguish us from one another, each block stores a unique code called a “hash” that allows us to tell it apart from every other block.” One block can store over a MB of information, so just think about how we can all come together to watch out for each other. 1 blockchain = 1 community.
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ABOUT BLOCKCHAIN
More: Blocks are legitimized by the amount of information the public submits to these blocks. In order to submit to your neighborhood blocks, you have to live in the neighborhood and have proof of residency. This is how your block is verified – by both address and by the amount of information you submit to the block
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We can use “up voting” to determine whether the information you submit is actually real. Block leaders will be defined by the community, but also by how much this person has contributed to the community via submitting truthful information that helps keep the neighborhood safe and other members of the DAO verifying every transaction.
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2. WE CAN IDENTIFY MISSING CHILDREN WITH FACIAL RECOGNITION TECHNOLOGY
Problem: Too many children are stuck in broken systems that do not have the infrastructure to keep track of them. They may be trafficked across borders, where the law officers can’t even communicate with those missing. We’ve seen this happen with border control. Solution: Any A.I or tech company who can provide facial recognition technology Once someone identifies a hate crime and gets it on camera, we can use the video to find out the contact info of these police officers killing and violating the rights of black and brown people. There are TONS of companies with A.I. technology and capabilities to help digitize and build databases that reflect the needs of the black and brown communities. For example, TRU FACE recently joined forces with the Caribbean to launch a missing persons database and interactive platform leveraging the power of facial recognition in the wake of Hurricane Dorian. Link: https://www.findmebahamas.com/ 84
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3. DECREASE AI-BIASED WITH FUNDING AND USING MORE TECH MADE WITH DIVERSE INTENTIONS
Problem: Deep-rooted racism has infiltrated our communities and held us back from progressing as a culture.
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Solution: Provide mandatory social justice and cultural classes for all individuals policing our communities and law enforcers. To rise above racism means to better our minds.
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4. DEMILITARIZE LOCAL POLICE AND MAKE WIFI / INTERNET CAFES FREE
Problem: 1 police riot gear = $9,000 Research: According to the Urban Institute, “In 2017, state and local governments spent $115 billion on police (4 percent of state and local direct general expenditures) and $79 billion on corrections (3 percent).” We can re-invest in free internet and computers for all public school children, preparing the next generation’s workforce with jobs of the future. These jobs include drone operators, AI-machine programmers, product managers, and natural gas and renewable energy associates. Update all computers in public libraries.
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CRYPTO CULTURE : MAXIES, ALTCOINERS, TOKEN HOLDERS If 2020 was The Awakening, snooze alarms dropped like bombs in 2021. The Wolves of Wall Street blatantly protect their packs from the wrath of $DOGE investors although the startled short sellers were paid to know better. Seemingly elected representatives fleeced Taxpayers by directing funds to foreign dictators under the guise of a generous care package. Grocery money, denominated in dollars, is affording less and less food and gas. The People are
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losing their power in a free market, if we ever had any, at all! Amidst the calamity, a volatile Bitcoin rose back into the minds of the masses by Q2. Even more volatile crypto assets such as $MEME and ironically, $SAFE, began to outperform and attract a new generation of retail investors. During an interview at Davos in 2016, Ray Dalio hoped the world would not turn into a casino. This year, his Bridgewater associates placed a bet on Bitcoin in a surprising turn of intents. Growing adoption of decent alternatives is a reason to celebrate, isn’t it? Regardless, beached whales in Miami are certainly an excuse to! In June, 21,000 cyber coiners descend on Florida’s Mana Wynwood in what became the biggest religious rally since coronaviral first traveled the mainstreams and washed up on our shores. People are ready to save *themselves* after falling in fear with Fauci and in love with pharma. A desire for Sovereignty, protected by protocol, inspired the rush.
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ARE BITCLOUT CREATORS THE NEW WAVE? The revolution will not be televised. It will be streamed and organized on someone’s BitClout public node. With open-source technology shaking up the decentralization space, BitClout is leading the way to a monetary social media positive and inclusive space. What that means is that Creators are paid by the amount of effort they put into the platform and anyone can build a feed based on whatever they want using the BC blockhain. People can also invest in your by buying your coin. BitClout is a creator-driven platform that allows fans, supporters, and investors to directly support you when they buy your creator coin. It’s a form of decentralized social media that cuts out the middleman. Once you sign-up for an account, you’re immersed in the speculative and creative metaverse. BitClout posts are rewarded with diamonds from the community, interactively cascading down your screen like a dope tip. So far, there are about 300K users 93
on BitClout; social coins are the next wave. Platforms like Rally.io are also in this same category, but more curated and application-based. At BitClout, there’s no CEO or large corporation. Anyone can run a node and create their own content based on their culture. DiamondHands, a public figure who is the representative of BitClout, posts platform updates which are pinned to the Global Feed for everyone to read. The way it works is that when accounts buy your token, the value of it and the market cap increase. Because the token is valued in $BTC, your token’s value also fluctuates in price. You can also receive diamonds for inspirational posts and with the deflation bomb, BitClout will be available forever on one block of the blockchain infrastructure. Blockchain.com has integrated its CLOUT token as the first in their new token trading feature. Users can now buy, sell, and store CLOUT within their Blockchain wallets. Visit blockchain.com today to checkout this great new feature! BitClout provides an proof-of-stake social network that enables users to monetize their online content through the blockchain. Its the first functional use case is a
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crypto-powered tipping economy. If you want to learn more, you can check out their White Paper on bitclout.com BEST PRACTICES OF BITCLOUT: 1. Buy your own tokens first at a higher percentage so when other people buy your coin, you’ll make money. 2. Build your community by staying active on the platform and invest in others who are also contributing to the community. *This is not financial advice. Please do your own research. Read more at https://cryptointhecity.substack.com
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BBB X CASH APP MIAMI BITCOIN WEEK The Scoop: In partnership with Cash App and Black Bitcoin Billionaires for Miami Bitcoin Takeover, Violet Summer hosted a pool party in North Beach and a crypto literacy community event at The Roots Collective. We shared vibes with some of the biggest names in the blockchain and Bitcoin spaces. Shout out to Lamar Wilson, founder of Black Bitcoin Billionaire, who spoke on the mainstage of the official Bitcoin Conference in Wynwood, Cherise Wilson, event head orgazier, and Isaiah Jackson, author of Bitcoin in Black America and also panelist at conference. “Listeners have told me they wake up to my room daily , use it as an alarm, and even invite their friends on stage.” Dr Shalair Armstrong told while chilling poolside at the BBB Mansion with founder Melissa Henderson. Tune-in to Moderator Dr. Shalair Armstrong’s Bitcoin Beginners Clubhouse room every day between 6am-8pm est. Go to www.blackbitcoinbillionaires.com for club schedule.
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CREDITS
COVER PHOTOS Courtesy of: Alessandro Sacchi Violet Summer Social Media Intern: Jasmin Matthews, NYU Class of 2023 Design: Ana Lua Caiano
Source/Contact Info: violetsummercompany@gmail.com www.violetsummerzine.com/digitalrights *This is not financial advice. Do Your Own Research
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