EMPOWER WEST LOUISVILLE

About Us

EmpowerWest is a coalition of Louisville area pastors and churches seeking to unleash the educational, economic, and spiritual power of West Louisville residents so that they might maximize their God-given potential and capacity.

Our Mission

EmpowerWest will lift a prophetic voice that advocates with and amplifies the voices of those in West Louisville in places of power.

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Our Mission

  • Lift a prophetic voice that advocates with and amplifies the voices of those in West Louisville in places of power.
  • Help change the hearts of people in and outside of West Louisville so that people will see the importance of West Louisville and her people in all parts of Greater Louisville.
  • Find ways to increase economic and educational opportunity for residents of West Louisville.
  • Build bridges of reconciliation between our churches and among our members.
  • Continually educate ourselves and others as to how to bring our hearts to this in a long-term productive way.

Mindset

Based on our shared Christian orientation, Empower West will stand with those most easily ignored in business dealings because they have neither voice nor place at the bargaining table, and yet their lives are most affected by potential business decisions.

Makeup

A coalition of Louisville area pastors and churches, committed to insuring that development and the infusion of capital into West Louisville will be primarily for the empowerment and sustainability of West Louisville’s current residents and secondarily for the profit-making of investors.

Empower West Communication with Mayor Fischer

Mayor Greg Fisher to Joe Phelps 07/23/2020

Joe Phelps to Mayor Greg Fisher

07/11/2020

To General Cameron and US Attorney Coleman

06/26/2020

Joe Phelps to Mayor Greg Fisher

06/25/2020

Rev Kirby to Dr Mohler

06/24/2020

Mayor Greg Fisher to Joe Phelps 06/20/2020

FEATURING: Yvette Carnell, Antonio Moore, and Congressman John Yarmuth

Make plans to join us for the first West Louisville Forum of the year!

Links for Livestream:

Facebook or YouTube

Dr. Robert P. Jones

The West Louisville Forum continues on Tuesday October 13, 2020 with Dr. Robert P. Jones discussing "White Too Long".

Links for Livestream:

Facebook or YouTube

Dr. Kevin W. Cosby and Congressman John Yarmuth speak on Solutions for Urban America

The West Louisville Forum is back and will facilitate a powerful discussion between Simmons President, Rev. Dr. Kevin W. Cosby and Congressman John Yarmuth!

TOPIC: "When White America gets sick, Black America gets hospitalized: Will Congress fight for racial equity during the Pandemic"

Links for Livestream:

Facebook or YouTube

Episcopal News Service: $1.7 million for slavery reparations fund puts Virginia Theological Seminary at forefront of debate

By David Paulsen Posted Sep 6, 2019. [Episcopal News Service] Virginia Theological Seminary took what appears to be an unprecedented step this week by announcing that it had set aside $1.7 million for a slavery reparations fund – something considered but not yet enacted by other institutions of higher education that historically benefited from slave labor.

400th Year Commemoration Ceremony of Slavery in America

Watch the replay as the interfaith community and justice seekers across the nation to participate in a commemoration ceremony… for a time of reflection on where we’ve come from, where we are, and the new trajectory for the next 400 years.

WHAS 11 - America's dark history: Louisville commemorates 400 years since birth of slavery

The Louisville community commemorated the first enslaved Africans who were brought to North American colonies 400 years ago this month.

Baptist World News: Angela Project ceremony aims to repair, not repeat, America’s history of racism

Repairing America’s racial divide will require more than feeling remorse for sins in the past, the president of a historically black college in Louisville, Kentucky, told an audience of mixed races from various faith traditions gathered to reflect on the 400th anniversary of slavery in the United States.

The Angela Project Presents the 400th Year Commemoration Ceremony 1619-2019: Commemorating 400 Years of Slavery in America

Slavery is a topic that usually divides, But World, National, State & Local faith leaders are uniting across racial lines to Commemorate the 400th Anniversary of Slavery in America, led by KY’s oldest HBCU: Simmons College Of KY.

A Call For Repentance and Repair to the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary


We, the undersigned Louisville area Christian ministers, call for Southern Baptist Theological Seminary to make an act of repentance and repair to descendants of American slavery for its leading role in crafting a moral and biblical defense of slavery; for its support of the Confederacy; for perpetuating the Lost Cause mentality; and for defending Jim Crow policies.


We call the Seminary to transfer a meaningful portion of its financial wealth to a black-led educational institution which is outside the Seminary’s sphere of influence.


Response to Request from Empower West from Dr. Albert Mohler

The 2019 Empower West Louisville City Wide Book Club

Dr. Erica Dunbar, author of Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave Ona Judge will be in Louisville on February 7. From the publisher: A startling and eye-opening look into America’s First Family, Never Caught is the powerful story about a daring woman of “extraordinary grit” (The Philadelphia Inquirer).

When George Washington was elected president, he reluctantly left behind his beloved Mount Vernon to serve in Philadelphia, the temporary seat of the nation’s capital. In setting up his household he brought along nine slaves, including Ona Judge...

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Dr. Erica Dunbar, author of Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave Ona Judge will be in Louisville on February 7. From the publisher: A startling and eye-opening look into America’s First Family, Never Caught is the powerful story about a daring woman of “extraordinary grit” (The Philadelphia Inquirer).


When George Washington was elected president, he reluctantly left behind his beloved Mount Vernon to serve in Philadelphia, the temporary seat of the nation’s capital. In setting up his household he brought along nine slaves, including Ona Judge. As the President grew accustomed to Northern ways, there was one change he couldn’t abide: Pennsylvania law required enslaved people be set free after six months of residency in the state. Rather than comply, Washington decided to circumvent the law. Every six months he sent the slaves back down south just as the clock was about to expire.


Though Ona Judge lived a life of relative comfort, she was denied freedom. So, when the opportunity presented itself one clear and pleasant spring day in Philadelphia, Judge left everything she knew to escape to New England. Yet freedom would not come without its costs. At just twenty-two-years-old, Ona became the subject of an intense manhunt led by George Washington, who used his political and personal contacts to recapture his property.


“A crisp and compulsively readable feat of research and storytelling” (USA TODAY), historian Erica Armstrong Dunbar weaves a powerful tale and offers fascinating new scholarship on how one young woman risked everything to gain freedom from the famous founding father.

The Angela Project Presents the 400th Year Commemoration Ceremony 1619-2019: Commemorating 400 Years of Slavery in America

Slavery is a topic that usually divides, But World, National, State & Local faith leaders are uniting across racial lines to Commemorate the 400th Anniversary of Slavery in America, led by KY’s oldest HBCU: Simmons College Of KY.

A Call For Repentance and Repair to the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary


We, the undersigned Louisville area Christian ministers, call for Southern Baptist Theological Seminary to make an act of repentance and repair to descendants of American slavery for its leading role in crafting a moral and biblical defense of slavery; for its support of the Confederacy; for perpetuating the Lost Cause mentality; and for defending Jim Crow policies.


We call the Seminary to transfer a meaningful portion of its financial wealth to a black-led educational institution which is outside the Seminary’s sphere of influence.


Response to Request from Empower West from Dr. Albert Mohler

Coalition of Ministry Organizations and Community Leaders Announce 'Driving While Black' Press Conference

A press conference organized by ministers and community leaders has been announced for Tuesday September 18 at 6:00pm at 22nd and Muhammad Ali Boulevard in Louisville, KY. The conference is announced in response to outrage that Rev. Kevin and Ms. Barnetta Cosby were stopped by and harassed by local police this past Saturday evening. The Cosbys, of St. Stephen Church and Simmons College, were driving home when stopped by police. Unfortunately, they were “driving while black.”

CJ: Rev. Jesse Jackson calls for 'defiance, determination' in Louisville sermon

Rev Jesse Jackson's keynote sermon for the Angela Project Conference 2018 featured in news media coverage by the The Courier-Journal newspaper Louisville, Kentucky.

Angela Project Conference Under Way

The Angela Project Conference 2018 begin today in Louisville, KY. Click below for registration or schedule information.

Religious leaders launch initiative at Simmons College promoting racial justice and leadership.

(WDRB) Leaders from some of the largest Christian organizations in the country are in Louisville this week to help launch an initiative honoring a civil rights pioneer.

Redlining, City Wide Book Read Featured in News

Louisville's history of redlining a central feature in this arcticle by Louisville Public Media. Three EmpowerWest pastors discuss Rothstein's "The Color of Law" and the local impact of redlining.

Contact us


OUR SPONSORS

  • Baptist Seminary of Kentucky
  • Bates Memorial Baptist Church
  • Buechel Park Baptist Church
  • Burnett Avenue Baptist Church
  • Campbellsville University
  • Central Presbyterian Church
  • Christ United Methodist Church
  • Christ's Church for Our Community
  • Crescent Hill Baptist Church
  • Highland Baptist Church
  • Highland Presbyterian Church
  • Joshua Tabernacle Baptist Church
  • Nehemiah Baptist Church
  • Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ
  • Ridgewood Baptist Church
  • Simmons College of Kentucky
  • St. Edward Catholic Church
  • St. Matthews Episcopal Church
  • St. Stephen Church
  • Sowers of Justice Network