Issue link: http://theflywire.uberflip.com/i/699630
Love, So Bufly I n 2005, the first issue of The Flywire Magazine was created and the first Love Note was wri en. The message "Bal more is ready to shine" is s ll per nent in 2016. See the original message on the next page. My intent then was to advance cultural explora on and to experience our hidden power, fun and crea ve side. To feel good about ourselves. The Flywire was successful and influen al in crea ng posi ve social engagement and be er imaging. "We are The Wire but so much more" was demonstrated with profiles of trendse ers and featuring our success stories and cultural scene. Through our network hope caught fire for the city's African American professionals. T oday the feel good stage has expired. We're in crisis mode, our city is hur ng, our internal bleeding has spread and infected everywhere. The pain is at an all me high. No longer can we look the other way. The city's core reality of 40+ years of constant violence, centuries of impoverished communi es and decades of mass incarcera on can no longer be ignored. F reddie Gray's un mely death and subsequent uprising showed the world Bal more's tale of two ci es. The reality of "the haves and the have nots." Now we're hemorrhaging. The alarming number of Bal more murder vic ms has leaders searching for answers. Others feel stuck not knowing how to protest oneself when you are connected to the shooter and the vic m. T he June 25, 2016 assassina on of rapper Tyriece Watson aka "Lor Scoota" not only took a young star's life but it killed the spirits of children across the city. His death was a crushing blow. Adults were not ready for the collec ve heartbreak. Our children's cries broke our hearts and we were startled. We can not explain the unexplainable. We can not protect their hearts. We can not pick our children's heroes. They love who they love. Our city's children loved this young man and he loved them more. His charisma and energy was authen c. His dedica on to the kids very real. His music, though spiked with lyrics of raw urban tales, made them dance. His life represented hope. He was going to put Bal more on the map. He was going to make us all famous. Now that dream died with him. Yet the startling outcry and mourning shows us all it's me to take ac on. It's me to become our children's heroes and unite to create peace. It's me to take care of All of our children. No more blind eye and destruc ve cri cism of our youth. We raised them and have to accept the responsibility of our current state of affairs to make necessary changes. It's me to save our city. It's me to save ourselves so we can let the brilliance outshine our inherited pain. D ear Lor Scooota, your life shall not be in vain. Thank you for showing non-believers there is s ll a whole lo a love in our city. The babies know. We have to do be er for our children. LOVE NOTE