Standing Rock Activist Lawyer to Speak in Niagara Falls

(Niagara Falls, NY) — The Atlantis School For Gifted Youngsters will host Niagara Falls' 1st Annual Indigenous Peoples Day Celebration featuring internationally renowned Standing Rock Lawyer Activist Chase Iron Eyes and Lakota Wisdom Keeper Chief Bear Cross of the Ghost Nation. This celebration will consist of three events:

⦁ Friday October 8th, 4pm-5pm Speaking Engagement at the Niagara Falls Public Library. Topic of discussion "Sacred America: Breaking 500 Years of Silence." Following a brief Invocation by Chief Bear Cross, Chase Iron Eyes will discuss the power of Indigenous culture, sovereignty and lessons from Standing Rock. This event will be free and open to the public.

⦁ Saturday October 9th, 11am-11:15am Official Press Conference at the Veterans Monument at Hyde Park in Niagara Falls. Chase Iron Eyes will briefly speak on the history of Wounded Knee and plight of the Lakota People. Media Interviews will follow.

⦁ Saturday October 9th, 2pm-4pm V.I.P. Meet & Greet with Chase Iron Eyes and Chief Bear Cross at an undisclosed location. Tickets are $40. Tickets can be purchased online at: HERE 

Chase Iron Eyes TEDxCharlottesville

"In the spirit of solidarity and in celebration of the original people of North America, Indigenous Peoples Day was created to honor the past, present, and future of indigenous peoples, acknowledge the legacy of colonialism and to raise awareness of its present day impact on their communities. To celebrate the 1st Annual Indigenous Peoples Day we are honored to have Six Nations members, the Seneca Mothers, internationally renowned Standing Rock Activist Chase Iron Eyes and Lakota Wisdom Keeper Chief Bear Cross of the Ghost Nation to represent their voice and rich cultural legacy."

About the Speakers

Chase Iron Eyes, Activist Lawyer for the Lakota People’s Law Project, was raised on the Standing Rock Nation and now lives on the Oglala Lakota Nation (Pine Ridge Reservation). Chase co-founded the Last Real Indians media model of frontline reporting in addition to an uncensored critique of the issues of the day as a way to give voice to the voiceless, presence to the unseen and action to prophecy. He is also a spokesperson for the Leonard Peltier freedom campaign as well as the public relations liaison for Julian Bear Runner, the president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. Chase is married to Dr. Sara Jumping Eagle and they are raising their family in Lakota Treaty lands.

Chief Bear Cross, Wisdom Keeper of the Lakota People, is the Leader of the Ghost Nation who received his war bonnet from Spiritual Leader Leonard Crow Dog. Leonard Crow Dog led the takeover of the town of Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge Reservation in 1973, known as the Wounded Knee Incident.

About the Atlantis School For Gifted Youngsters 

The Atlantis School For Gifted Youngsters a private estate and learning institution founded in Niagara Falls, NY to teach/train youth in the growth, development and control of their powers. The mission of our institution is to globally inspire, empower and educate youth to be Ambassadors of our future.

Digital Missteps in a Cancel Culture Industry

   

   The Internet, and social media in particular, is doing more than reshaping our brain architecture and how we explore and attend the real world. 

     In my article Is Social Media The Digital "Turn on, Tune in, Drop out"? I wrote, "Fifteen years ago National News was a mainstream talking point for at least a week. Nowadays National News has about a 48 hour life unless other information is shared in connection to that information. This is why stories are now shared in segments and you rarely get all of the details when a story breaks. This is not because of lack of information, it is often done in parts to lengthen the life of a story. Sometimes the wrong information is deliberately shared in order to retract it 24-48 hours later, which insures web traffic for another two days. Keep in mind that I am speaking from personal experience, as a writer and as a subject who was catapulted into the spotlight in 2014 when I was cited by as a subject matter expert by the international and national press on Jay-Z's Five Percenter Jewelry." 

     In regards to this digital landscape I went on to elaborate that, "All social media formats use a scroll screen model. This enables users to easily scroll through pages without the cumbersome task of reading anything. If reading was not considered cumbersome, social media Apps would not limit the character count to convey a thought. While some people have learned and are learning to use these limited/ideal character counts to refine concise truncated thought, many others have found themselves becoming less and less equipped to communicate, online and offline. This technological shift coincides with what we are also seeing across the country with the closing and defunding of libraries, the historically low ELA competency levels in primary school students and the moving away from handwriting in exchange for typing."

    With these changes and the creation of D2C [direct-to-consumer] mediums where people can interact without middlemen, there has also been a paradigm shift in how people navigate the digital landscape, interact with one another and engage the media. With the proliferation of Cancel Culture, these mediums have become problematic for many people, especially public figures, who feel as though they can Like/💓/😂, tweet, post/repost, comment, inbox, DM or LIVE Chat whatever they want. Sha'Carri Richardson is just one example of numerous athletes, entertainers, public officials and etc. who have found themselves in hot water because they clearly lacked "professional advice" on what to say, or not say.., publicly. Some people have literally lost their careers, and the ability to financially support their loved ones, because of digital missteps. Many athletes, entertainers, public officials and etc. have been lured into the illusion that because social media enables them to directly connect with people, investing in professional consultants to help curate their content and engagement is not necessary. In regards to freedom, I understand. Paying folks to give their professional advice on some of our thoughts before we share them may feel like a lot. Yet it is not nearly the price many of us end paying without that advice. 

     Gossip Blogs, Podcasts, Reaction Videos, LIVE Streamers, Mainstream Media and etc. all thrive on Digital Missteps; resharing, recreating and recycling it as traffic driving monetized content that they feed off of. This is an entire billion dollar industry based upon digitally amplifying imperfections. An industry that Generation Z [Zoomers] now look at as a viable career like my Generation X looked at college. And hey, I understand. YouTubers like DJ Akademiks don't even need to spin records to make a living. All you need to do is talk about people and instigate beefs; the same thing some of my elementary school students like to do. Now adults make money doing it. 

    As a cultural content creator I could share a different article, video, book, class, presentation, animation, album, song, poem, news story, podcast, interview, project, program or initiative that I have created/co-created every single day for the next 5 years without reposting anything. I am not talking about posts or tweets just sharing my thoughts. I am talking about sharing a different example of actual work that I have successfully completed, every day of the week, for 5 strait years without fail. Being a Five Percent pioneer in this space, this has enabled me to establish a global digital footprint that pushes our culture forward into uncharted territories. I am very proud of that. I am especially proud of the fact that none of my content is based upon gossip, instigating beefs or ambulance chasing for views. 

     For over a decade now I have also worked as a professional consultant. In this capacity I have had the opportunity to advise many athletes, entertainers, public officials and etc. on how they should best answer interview questions, respond to panel discussion topics, craft email correspondences, pen think pieces, issue public statements and etc. Because of the confidentiality of this kind of work I would never betray their trust and share who I work with. Yet if people are observant enough they could possibly tell who these people are based upon my global digital footprint and self-styled wisdom. So it is from this vantage point of view that I am assessing this changing digital landscape and what I see as a vital need for folks to invest in professional consultants. If not, we will continue to see the best of our athletes, entertainers, public officials and etc. living with a Cancel Culture sword above their heads.

Peace,

Saladin

I minted my first NFT this week! So what the hell does that mean?

I just minted my first yet to be released NFT [Non-Fungible Token] via the Atlantis School For Gifted Youngsters and I am super excited about venturing into this technological territory. 

What the heck is an NFT?

An NFT is a digital asset or unit of data that represents real-world objects like art, music, videos and photos. It is stored on a digital ledger known as a blockchain. That blockchain records every transaction associated with that NFT and certifies proof of ownership, that it is unique and not interchangeable.

For example...

Imagine if you took a rare photo of Michael Jordan in a Chicago Bulls game during his rookie year and he autographed it. After that you made a digital copy and stored the original photo in a secure location that would preserve/protect it from damage, theft and copies. The digital copy you convert into an NFT. That NFT is stored on a digital ledger [blockchain] that certifies its authenticity, proof of ownership and allows you to securely transfer ownership, license or sell it using cryptocurrency [Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc.] or electronic money [U.S. Dollar]. You can either include the original copy with the sell of the NFT or keep the original copy and only sell its NFT. You can also assign a 10% royalty fee every time that NFT is transferred to someone else. 

Even though NFTs go back to 2012, what really got the world's attention was the above NFT that was created and sold by digital artist Beeple [Mike Winkelmann] in March of 2021. This piece titled The First 5,000 Days sold for an unbelievable $69 million dollars. Yeah, that wasn't a typo. I said $69 million dollars and now Beeple is considered one of the top three living artists. The First 5,000 Days is a digital collage of online images Beeple has posted over the last 14 years. Vignesh Sundaresan, [AKA MetaKovan], the person who purchased the NFT, received a JPG, a hyperlink and some limited rights to publicly display it; giving him multiple opportunities to further monetize it. Imagine if Trump harvested all of his tweets and turned it into a digital lookbook  NFT. People would pay millions for that sh*t. Even the most liberal serial entrepreneurs would buy it just to resell it for more to some wealthy racist. Crazy huh? Well that is just a peak into this digital landscape. Keep reading.

NFTs are like digital heirlooms and they don't need to be some rare Michael Jordan photo or digital collages either. They can be voice clips, music, graphic art, even tweets! Some Influencers are even creating NFTs that can be redeemed for personal messages and live video chats that can undoubtedly boost the purchaser's brand recognition. Folks are out here buying/selling digital rocks for $200,000 and an all-NFT wine brand is now out on the market. Just this week an article came out about a company called the VCR Group who will be launching the first NFT restaurant in NYC the autumn of 2022; offering an exclusive membership-only dining experience for people. According to their website:

"VCR Group will be launching the 1st NFT Restaurant concept in the world. To experience the restaurant, guests will require a membership. Memberships can be purchased through an NFT (Non-Fungible Token). The NFT will represent ownership of your membership which will provide access to the restaurant throughout the month, in addition to unlimited enjoyment of the cocktail lounge and access to private culinary experiences. There will be 3 different NFT Tokens representing a multitude of experiences in the restaurant. Each NFT is an asset and can be sold or transferred in the secondary market."

The possibilities are endless the more that we learn about this technology. Your grandmother's wedding ring. The family home. Other inheritances. Imagine 100 years from now your family also owning rare, valuable digital assets that you created. This is not a wave, it is a technological paradigm shift in how we can redefine, reevaluate and preserve our legacies. My first NFT is just one of a series of rare collectibles that I will eventually make available to the public and I look forward to seeing many of you also investing in this digital space. There is more than enough room for all of us.

Peace,

Saladin