Councilwoman Shameka Parrish-Wright
601 W. Jefferson Street
(502) 574-1103
Email Councilwoman Parrish-Wright

Ben Harlan
Legislative Assistant
(502) 574-3452
Email Ben

Dre Dawson
Community Engagement Strategist
(502) 494-6663
Email Dre

Links

District 3 Website

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In this Issue...

• MLK Day Update
• Coffee with the Councilwoman
• Mailer Update
• Abandoned Properties & Vehicles
• District Advisory Board & First Meeting
• Our Work

MLK Day Update

It was an honor and a privilege to be a Grand Marshall at the 2024 Power of Unity Motorcade and Celebration honoring the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I am thankful to Reverend Charles Elliott, and Bishop Dennis Lyons for their tireless work in our community and for inviting me to their annual celebration. 

Here is what I shared on my Facebook page regarding MLK Day:

"Did you know that Dr. King's "I Have A Dream" speech was mostly improvised? As well as being a great speaker, Dr. King was known for speaking from his heart, his knowledge, and his life experience.

It doesn't take a lot of time in this human experience to realize the extent to which this world can be unjust. The people who speak out with passion, work with integrity, and are motivated by the general well-being of their communities, will always be game changers, marvelous leaders, and world benders. It is this small group of people that we admire for their big achievements. Only through bravery, courage, and fearlessness do we achieve such lofty goals as those we look up to historically.

With my time in office as an elected official I hope to be just as good as the many leaders around the world, and throughout history, who have shown us that with prudence, truth, and vigor, you can change the world too!

It's an honor to speak about Martin Luther King Jr. whenever I am asked to, but I also use it as an opportunity to lift up a lot of the unsung heroes of the civil rights movement, like Corretta Scott King, Dr. King's wife. For Martin Luther King Jr. to be who he was, he needed the strong people around him. Also, people like Claudette Colvin, who sat on the bus before Rosa Parks. A lot of unsung heroes don't ever get mentioned in the history books, they don't ever make the news, but they help hold up the work so that people like Martin Luther King Jr. can shine, and their legacy continues on. We want to be mindful and remember to uplift the people who provided support, and so many of those folks we will never know their names.

This work is really about the people-power, or the power of people, together, and not one leader. We failed to protect him and his family and too many more in the end and we must work together to make sure that doesn't happen again. Collective shared leadership is our path forward."

Coffee with the Councilwoman

Mark your calendars! Please join the District 3 team THIS SATURDAY (January 20th) from 12:00pm-2:00pm at the Krispy Kreme on 3920 7th Street Road to have coffee, donuts, and conversation. We hope to see you there and talk about how to uplift all neighborhoods in our district. 

Mailer Update

We are so excited to announce that registered addresses in District 3 will receive an informational mailing containing contact information to our office, various Louisville Metro Departments, and resources in the city of Shively. Please be on the lookout for those in mid-February. If you would like to join our mailing list, please fill out one of the contact forms on the link in the left-hand side of this newsletter that says "Email Ben/Dre". 

Abandoned Properties & Vehicles

One of the priorities of our office is uplifting and maintaining all neighborhoods in District 3. We have received resident calls expressing concern over vacant and abandoned properties and vehicles. If you notice any abandoned properties or vehicles in your neighborhood, please reach out to our office. 

District Advisory Board & First Meeting

First, we want to thank each person who applied to join our District Advisory Board. We will be reaching out to each applicant individually and our first meeting is scheduled to be Monday, February 12th at the Metro Council Building (601 W Jefferson St) at 6pm. We look forward to beginning this meeting series and working together. 

Additionally, if you are part of a neighborhood association, please reach out and let us know when the association meets. We want to be a part of your conversations and be as actively involved as possible. Please continue to invite our office to your events! We want to hear from YOU!

Our Work

We are so thankful for the opportunities to improve our community each and every day. In the past couple of weeks, we have met with representatives from the Office of Planning, Public Works, nonprofit organizations and business leaders to discuss how we can best work together for the uplift of all people in our district and city. We were so fortunate to also be able to connect with the Mayor of Shively to discuss shared priorities and goals. 

We are also working on both a podcast series and one-pagers as resources so everyone can be more engaged with local government and have as much information as possible to advocate for their needs, communities, and dreams. 

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