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Foul ball? Former City Councilman Sa’ad El-Amin formed the Society for Preservation of African-American History and Antiquities to oppose plans to build a ballpark in Shockoe Bottom. Read his essay.
• Letter to the mayor and council
• Essay on Shockoe Bottom
Former Richmond City Councilman and federal prisoner Sa'ad El-Amin has resurfaced to oppose baseball in Shockoe Bottom and to help save black-heritage sites, such as the collapsed Eggleston Hotel.
El-Amin sent a letter and an essay to Mayor Dwight C. Jones and the City Council on Sunday, making the case that the Shockoe Center ballpark project should be rejected and that much of the Bottom be reserved to memorialize the area's role during the slave trade.
The former firebrand 6th District councilman has kept a low profile since serving 32 months in prison for income-tax fraud conspiracy, but he said yesterday that he's injecting himself into the ballpark debate because city leaders are showing signs of accommodating the developers.
Last month, Jones said it may be possible for the ballpark development to co-exist with efforts to preserve the area's cultural heritage, as well as high-speed rail and a bus-transfer center at Main Street Station. The mayor challenged groups pushing each of the projects to work together to see whether differences can be resolved.
In the case of Shockoe Center, that's not possible, El-Amin said. He argues that baseball is too frivolous to mesh with the Bottom's weighty past and that the land should be reserved for a black-heritage museum and a historical district, with a re-created Lumpkin's Slave Jail and slave-auction houses.
"We don't have a single inch of ground in Richmond that's dedicated to this awful part of our history," he said.
Tammy D. Hawley, Jones' press secretary, and Del. Delores L. McQuinn, D-Richmond and chairwoman of the Richmond Slave Trail Commission, had no comment on El-Amin's correspondence. Neither did Paul W. Kreckman, who is leading the development group proposing Shockoe Center.
El-Amin said the recent collapse of the Eggleston Hotel in Jackson Ward inspired him to establish the Society for Preservation of African-American History and Antiquities. He said he intends to seek nonprofit status and use the organization to preserve and restore sites that are significant to Richmond's black history, including Shockoe Bottom, as well as the Hippodrome Theater, the Elks Lodge and the Armory in Jackson Ward.
"This is the kind of activity that has to be almost evangelical," he said.
El-Amin is the corporation's sole director and registered agent, according to the Virginia State Corporation Commission.
El-Amin was known for making incendiary remarks on race during his three terms as the council's 6th District representative. He surrendered his seat in July 2003 as he pleaded guilty to a tax-fraud conspiracy charge. He served 32 months of a 37-month prison term and was released in August 2006.
El-Amin said his time in prison helped to reset his priorities and probably saved his life. He said he entered prison with undiagnosed heart disease and underwent triple-bypass surgery while incarcerated.
After his release, El-Amin said he was impressed by Richmond's revitalization but disturbed that it hasn't extended to the majority of its residents.
"What my fear is, given the present momentum and the present inertia, it won't be long before people only hear about African-American history in the Valentine or in history books, because it's all gone," he said.
Contact Will Jones at (804) 649-6911 or wjones@timesdispatch.com.
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