(David M. Benett / Getty Images Entertainment)
“12 Years a Slave” actress Lupita Nyong’o recently announced, via her Facebook page, that she has joined the fight to save Shockoe Bottom in Richmond, Virginia. Shockoe Bottom was a former trading hub during the U.S. slave trade. The site is currently under serious threat due to plans by the organization ‘Revitalize RVA’, which plans to build a minor league baseball stadium over the ball field.
Lupita Nyong’o has joined preservationists in the fight to uphold the history of the area by petitioning Dwight Jones, the Mayor of Richmond. Nyong’o has a unique connection to the area, according to The Washington Post,
The area’s history wasn’t well known until recent years, when groups such as the Richmond City Council Slave Trail Commission began investigating records and digging in. They learned that in the mid-1800s, the city was the second-busiest slave-trading site in the country, with hundreds of thousands of people bought and sold. They uncovered evidence of infamous sites such as Lumpkin’s Jail and the jail where Solomon Northup, whose memoir was the basis of the Oscar-winning movie “12 Years a Slave,” is believed to have been held after he was kidnapped.
In Nyong’o’s open letter, she emphasizes the importance of sites like Shockoe, writing,
Historical sites like these are valuable not only to Americans, but to the entire world that engages with America. I, for one, originate from Kenya, and had it not been for the preservation of slave history on the plantations in Louisiana and within the walls of museums that I visited, my immersion into Patsey’s life and lifestyle would not have been as deep nor as empathetic as it was. I may not have been as equipped to portray her and thus contribute to the cinematic heritage that we now have in the movie, 12 Years A Slave.
(Facebook)
Those in favor of preserving the site are hoping to receive funds that would allow them to properly maintain and conserve the historical artifacts at the site and to further educate the public.
Read Lupita Nyong’o’s entire letter on her Facebook page. For more information, visit noshockoestadium.com.
