Talk:Paul Stephenson (civil rights campaigner)/GA1

GA Review

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This is my favourite kind of article to review: the short kind. Let's get right to it.

Update: This is now a good article. Congratulations. Steve Smith (talk) 00:45, 20 October 2009 (UTC)

Is it well written?

Generally good. Some quibbles:

• His name is slightly overused throughout the article, I think; I'd say at least two or three of its occurrences could be replaced by pronouns. Steve Smith (talk) 07:23, 16 October 2009 (UTC) Y changed that Jezhotwells (talk) 09:20, 19 October 2009 (UTC)
• "...in 1963 Stephenson led a boycott of the Bristol Omnibus Company, protesting the refusal of the company..." How about just "...protesting its refusal..."? Steve Smith (talk) 07:23, 16 October 2009 (UTC)  Done Jezhotwells (talk) 09:25, 19 October 2009 (UTC)

• "Against" seems redundant. Steve Smith (talk) 15:06, 19 October 2009 (UTC)

• British usage. US usage is protest something, British to protest against something. Jezhotwells (talk) 00:11, 20 October 2009 (UTC)

• "In 1964 Stephenson himself achieved national fame..." Sort of a peculiar wording. The implication seems to be that somebody or something else achieved national fame before, which Stephenson then matched in 1964. Can you explain? Steve Smith (talk) 07:23, 16 October 2009 (UTC) Y revised Jezhotwells (talk) 09:16, 19 October 2009 (UTC)
• "...resulting in him being tried on a charge of failing to leave a licensed premises..." How about just "resulting in charges for failing..."? Steve Smith (talk) 07:23, 16 October 2009 (UTC) No - the point is that he was tried and the case achieved national prominence. Jezhotwells (talk) 09:16, 19 October 2009 (UTC)

• How about "...resulting in a trial on a charge...", then? Steve Smith (talk) 15:06, 19 October 2009 (UTC)

•  Done I have amended it. Jezhotwells (talk) 00:09, 20 October 2009 (UTC)

• "He is a Freeman of the City of Bristol and an OBE." I'm not familiar with the meaning of "Freeman" here. Could it be wikilinked? As well, I'm not familiar with the OBE, but it strikes me as more likely that one is admitted to an order than that one becomes an order. Can you confirm that the current wording is correct? Steve Smith (talk) 07:23, 16 October 2009 (UTC) revised Y Jezhotwells (talk) 09:16, 19 October 2009 (UTC)

• I still find it odd that one can be "awarded" an order. Can you confirm that this wording is correct? Steve Smith (talk) 15:06, 19 October 2009 (UTC)
• Please see [1], [2], [3] for instance Jezhotwells (talk) 00:02, 20 October 2009 (UTC)

• "Stephenson was born in 1937 to a father of West African descent and a British mother." This is a little odd: we're told of his father's heritage and his mother's citizenship, but not of the converse. Was his father British? What was his mother's ethnic heritage? Steve Smith (talk) 07:23, 16 October 2009 (UTC). NO his father was West African, have reworded this - I have no idea of his mother's ethnic heritage. Not relevant she was British. Jezhotwells (talk) 09:16, 19 October 2009 (UTC)
• Every sentence in the "Early life" section begins with either Stephenson's name or a pronoun replacing it. Could you mix up the sentence structure a bit? Steve Smith (talk) 07:23, 16 October 2009 (UTC) Y Jezhotwells (talk) 09:16, 19 October 2009 (UTC)
• "...from University College, Birmingham..." Could there be a wikilink there? Steve Smith (talk) 07:23, 16 October 2009 (UTC) Y Jezhotwells (talk) 09:16, 19 October 2009 (UTC)
• "In January 1955 the Passenger group..." What is a union's Passenger group? Steve Smith (talk) 07:23, 16 October 2009 (UTC) Y explained Jezhotwells (talk) 09:16, 19 October 2009 (UTC)
• "The Bristol Evening Post..." Should be italicized, no? Steve Smith (talk) 07:23, 16 October 2009 (UTC)  Done Jezhotwells (talk) 09:25, 19 October 2009 (UTC)
• "...set up an organisation, the West Indian Development Council in order to fight..." This appears to be intended as a comma-enclosed parenthetical, but is missing the closing comma. Steve Smith (talk) 07:23, 16 October 2009 (UTC)  Done Jezhotwells (talk) 09:25, 19 October 2009 (UTC)
• "...was indeed operating a colour bar..." Should that be "colour ban", or is that just terminology with which I'm unfamiliar? Steve Smith (talk) 07:23, 16 October 2009 (UTC) Coulour bar was the term employed at the time in UK Jezhotwells (talk) 09:16, 19 October 2009 (UTC)
• "...and inspired by the example of Rosa Parks' refusal to move off a "whites only" bus seat in Montgomery, Alabama leading to the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a Bristol bus boycott was organised." This could use several commas. I'd suggest "...and, inspired by the example of Rosa Parks' refusal to move off a "whites only" bus seat in Montgomery, Alabama, which led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a Bristol bus boycott was organised." Steve Smith (talk) 07:23, 16 October 2009 (UTC)  Done Jezhotwells (talk) 09:25, 19 October 2009 (UTC)
• "...which soon attracted nationwide media interest and the campaign grew to receive support from Bristolians of all colours and backing from Tony Benn, MP for Bristol East and Harold Wilson, leader of the Labour opposition." Here you have both a faulty parallelism and a comma paucity. I'd suggest "...which soon attracted nationwide media interest and grew to receive support from Bristolians of all colours, Bristol East MP Tony Benn, and Labour opposition leader Harold Wilson." Steve Smith (talk) 07:23, 16 October 2009 (UTC)
• "After 60 days on August 28 1963 the bus company..." How about "After 60 days, on August 28 1963, the bus company..."? Steve Smith (talk) 07:23, 16 October 2009 (UTC)  Done Jezhotwells (talk) 09:25, 19 October 2009 (UTC)
• "In the following year..." I'd delete the first word there. Steve Smith (talk) 07:23, 16 October 2009 (UTC) British english, not US English. Jezhotwells (talk) 09:25, 19 October 2009 (UTC)

• I wasn't aware that that was a national difference; apologies. Steve Smith (talk) 15:06, 19 October 2009 (UTC)

• "hit the headlines" and "sacked" both strike me as somewhat colloquial. Steve Smith (talk) 07:23, 16 October 2009 (UTC) Y revised Jezhotwells (talk) 09:16, 19 October 2009 (UTC)
• "That year..." How about "The same year..."? Steve Smith (talk) 07:23, 16 October 2009 (UTC) {{ok} revised Jezhotwells (talk) 09:25, 19 October 2009 (UTC)
• "In 1992 he came back to Bristol." "Came back" is written from Bristol's perspective. What about just "returned"? Steve Smith (talk) 07:23, 16 October 2009 (UTC) Y Revised Jezhotwells (talk) 09:25, 19 October 2009 (UTC)
• "Paul has served..." No first names, please. Steve Smith (talk) 07:23, 16 October 2009 (UTC) Y revised Jezhotwells (talk) 09:25, 19 October 2009 (UTC)
• "...has served on the Sports Council, Bristol's West Indian Parents' Association, the Press Council and helped set up the Bristol Black Archives Partnership." Faulty parallelism. Steve Smith (talk) 07:23, 16 October 2009 (UTC) {OK}} tidied up now Jezhotwells (talk) 09:25, 19 October 2009 (UTC)
• "...being the first person of Black origin to be so honoured." Is "person of Black origin" here distinct from "Black person"? Steve Smith (talk) 07:23, 16 October 2009 (UTC) NO, just another way of saying it as per MOBO award for instance. Jezhotwells (talk) 09:16, 19 October 2009 (UTC)

• This strikes me as unnecessary words, but I suppose if the MOBO award does it, I can let it slide. Steve Smith (talk) 15:06, 19 October 2009 (UTC)

• I'm not sure why you changed "Stephenson was educated at Forest Gate Secondary School in London, where he was the only black child." to "Forest Gate Secondary School in London, was where he had his secondary education, being the only black child in the school." The former was straightforward, while the latter is kind of clunky (and includes an incorrect comma). Steve Smith (talk) 15:06, 19 October 2009 (UTC)

• This was an attempt to remove redundant pronouns, now revised. Jezhotwells (talk) 00:14, 20 October 2009 (UTC)

Is it factually accurate and verifiable?

Well-cited, and all sources appear to clear WP:RS. Pass. Steve Smith (talk) 07:23, 16 October 2009 (UTC)

Is it broad in its coverage?

A few, generally minor, concerns here:

• There's nothing in here about his personal life after 1962. Do we know anything about whether or not he's married or has kids, for example? Steve Smith (talk) 07:23, 16 October 2009 (UTC)

Nothing that I can source - yes he is married and has at least one daughter but I can find no RS for this. Jezhotwells (talk) 10:01, 19 October 2009 (UTC)

• We're told the union passed a resolution against hiring non-whites, but we're not told how this translated into a ban by the company itself. Surely the union doesn't have authority over the company's hiring practices? Steve Smith (talk) 07:23, 16 October 2009 (UTC) It apparently did in 1963 in Bristol, I have expanded the section a little. Jezhotwells (talk) 10:01, 19 October 2009 (UTC)
• Some of the timelines are confusing: the "early life" section seems to deal with his life up to 1962, and as far as I can tell the bus boycott began in 1961; I suspect that's not right, since Stephenson doesn't seem to have been in Bristol until 1962, when we are told that he went to work for Bristol City Council. Next we hear of him, he's the city's first black youth officer. Is this the capacity in which he went to work for the BCC? If so, that fact should probably stated in the same place as the fact that he went to work for the BCC. Steve Smith (talk) 07:23, 16 October 2009 (UTC) Minor revisions cover this. Jezhotwells (talk) 10:01, 19 October 2009 (UTC)
• I infer that the public house incident was racially-motivated, though there's nothing in the article to that effect. Is my inference correct? Steve Smith (talk) 07:23, 16 October 2009 (UTC) Your inference is coprrect, but none of the sources spell it out that clearly. Jezhotwells (talk) 10:01, 19 October 2009 (UTC)
• We're told that he founded the Bristol Black Archives Partnership, and we're told that that was a major factor in his receiving the freedom of Bristol, but we're not actually told what that is. Is there information on that available? Steve Smith (talk) 07:23, 16 October 2009 (UTC) OK, expannded and cited. Jezhotwells (talk) 10:01, 19 October 2009 (UTC)

Is it neutral?

I'd say so. It's slightly laudatory, but that's probably par for the course for articles about decorated civil rights activists. Steve Smith (talk) 07:23, 16 October 2009 (UTC)

Is it stable?

Yes. Steve Smith (talk) 07:23, 16 October 2009 (UTC)

Is it illustrated, if possible, by images?

I'm going to call this one "not applicable". It obviously lacks images, which is a shame, but I see no reason to believe that there are any free ones available, and I find it hard to conceive of any non-free ones that might clear WP:NFCC. Steve Smith (talk) 07:23, 16 October 2009 (UTC)

This should be a good article with a minimum of work, but I'm placing it on hold for now. Steve Smith (talk) 07:23, 16 October 2009 (UTC)

Response

Thanks for the thorough review. I think all of those points have been addressed now. Jezhotwells (talk) 10:02, 19 October 2009 (UTC)

I have addressed your points, I think. Jezhotwells (talk) 00:16, 20 October 2009 (UTC)