User talk:Sfreeman44
September 2020
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Welcome to Wikipedia, and thank you for your contributions. Although everyone is welcome to contribute constructively to the encyclopedia, please note that there is a Manual of Style that should be followed to maintain a consistent, encyclopedic appearance. Deviating from this style, as you did in Kittrell College, disturbs uniformity among articles and may cause readability or accessibility problems. Please take a look at the welcome page to learn more about contributing to this encyclopedia. Please don't link to draft articles from main space articles per MOS:DRAFTNOLINK. NJD-DE (talk) 21:39, 20 September 2020 (UTC)
Hello, and welcome to Wikipedia. We appreciate your contributions; however, it appears you may have written a Wikipedia article about yourself, at Draft:Dr. Stephanie Freeman. Creating an autobiography is strongly discouraged – please see our guideline on writing autobiographies. If you create such an article, it may be deleted. If what you have done in life is genuinely notable and can be verified according to our policy for articles about living people, someone else will probably create an article about you sooner or later (see Wikipedians with articles). If you wish to add to or change an existing article about yourself, you are welcome to propose the changes by visiting the article's talk page. Please understand that this is an encyclopedia and not a personal web space or social networking site. If your article has already been deleted, please see: Why was the page I created deleted?, and if you feel the deletion was an error, please discuss this with the deleting administrator. Thank you. NJD-DE (talk) 21:40, 20 September 2020 (UTC)
Speedy deletion nomination of Draft:Dr. Stephanie Freeman
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A tag has been placed on Draft:Dr. Stephanie Freeman, requesting that it be speedily deleted from Wikipedia. This has been done under section G11 of the criteria for speedy deletion, because the page seems to be unambiguous advertising which only promotes a company, group, product, service, person, or point of view and would need to be fundamentally rewritten in order to become encyclopedic. Please read the guidelines on spam and Wikipedia:FAQ/Organizations for more information.
If you think this page should not be deleted for this reason, you may contest the nomination by visiting the page and clicking the button labelled "Contest this speedy deletion". This will give you the opportunity to explain why you believe the page should not be deleted. However, be aware that once a page is tagged for speedy deletion, it may be deleted without delay. Please do not remove the speedy deletion tag from the page yourself, but do not hesitate to add information in line with Wikipedia's policies and guidelines. If the page is deleted, and you wish to retrieve the deleted material for future reference or improvement, then please contact the deleting administrator. — Blablubbs (talk • contribs) 22:16, 20 September 2020 (UTC)
Warning Against Vandalism of Kittrell College
[edit]Please do not continue to edit the Kitrell College page with untrue information. There is no evidence to suggest that the college is reopening or has been reincorporated. The property continues to be owned by the Job Corps center and no media outlets have reported a reopening. Until you have credible sources please do not edit the page in this manner. Doing so could be considered WP:Vandalism.--Ncchild (talk) 19:58, 22 December 2020 (UTC)
- I am fully aware of who owns the old campus--note "the old campus." I am going to get someone to update the page for this school--someone who is part of the HBCU collaboration. We have the first-hand knowledge about what is going on with the college, and first-hand information is the most reliable.
- This information comes from Wikipedia: Try to avoid deleting things as a matter of principle. When you amend and edit, bear in mind that others may find something useful in what you remove. Almost everyone – including you – has something useful to say. Deletion upsets people and makes them feel they have wasted their time; at the very least leave some indication of your rationale in an edit summary, if not in an entry on a Talk page or in a message to a user or users you think might be perturbed by your action.
- Hi, I'm BlackcurrantTea. A couple of things: On talk pages, please indent and sign your posts. This information allows other editors to easily see who wrote what, and when. Instructions on indenting are available here; you can sign your posts either by adding four tildes ~~~~ at the end of your comment, or with the cursor positioned at the end of your comment, clicking on the signature button
located above the edit window. This will automatically insert a signature with your username and the time you posted the comment.Secondly, and more importantly: "First-hand knowledge" is not considered the "most reliable" for the purposes of Wikipedia. Wikipedia relies on information from reliable sources, which can be verified by readers and other editors. First-hand knowledge which isn't in reliable sources is considered original research, and shouldn't be used to support statements in articles. If you have questions, please visit the Teahouse, our help forum for new editors. Thanks, and happy editing! BlackcurrantTea (talk) 04:11, 28 December 2020 (UTC)
- Hi, I'm BlackcurrantTea. A couple of things: On talk pages, please indent and sign your posts. This information allows other editors to easily see who wrote what, and when. Instructions on indenting are available here; you can sign your posts either by adding four tildes ~~~~ at the end of your comment, or with the cursor positioned at the end of your comment, clicking on the signature button
I may not understand all of the ins and outs of Wikipedia, but I do understand good research and cultural differences. Some cultures are more oral and may not have the written or digital materials that other cultures hold in "higher" esteem. However, oral traditionals and histories have validity and can be verified through other sources. I find these "I'm watching" and overly-zealous "correctors" to be asinine--a lot of people who are not part of this culture and history trying to tell someone who clearly is part of this culture that she is not valid and that what she writes or says has to be verified by us. It is part of a systemic problem that I will address on a larger scale. I have been told that what I am saying is not true and is vandalism of a page. Not seeing something that you or others can verify does not make it untrue, what it makes it is unsubstansiated in your culture. I have been quoted in Essence, Forbes, the Huff Post, U.S. News and World Report, The Wall Street Journal, and numerous other places, and I have articles in multiple scholarly journals including Oxford UP (all of which is digitally verifiable and documented). I have connections to 2 HBCUs (where I am a dean at one and a director at another). I am a very credible source (for first-hand information), and I don't need to lie about what I am doing. I know and members of the HBCU community know. However, I am going to post this information again with the links to the magazine articles about it and the endorsement from the Kittrell College National Alumni Association and others. Then, I am going to address this issue of having to justify our culture's information and history on an open-source platform with people who are clearly not informed about the goings on in this areana.
2 articles mention the rebirth of Kittrell College: 1) "Our State Magazine": https://www.ourstate.com/the-state-of-north-carolinas-hbcus/ 2) "The Henderson Dispatch": https://www.hendersondispatch.com/eedition/page-a1/page_684f1904-5bd7-5535-9e3e-a985813c9f1f.html
Kittrell College
[edit]Good evening,
I just wanted to bring it to your attention that as promised, I did edit the Kittrell College page about a week ago with the information from Our State. Thank you for pointing it out to me earlier, I was able to find the section as soon I could get a copy. I also improved the history section, organization, and references of the article so it should appear more professional than before. --Ncchild (talk) 02:09, 5 January 2021 (UTC)
You just do not get it. I did not write the previous history for Kittrell College, but I don't need you to take it upon yourself to "make it more professional." You obviously don't think that you need to clear edits with me or anyone else who is directly involved with Kittrell College. Apparently, you think your credentials are such that what you write is best. I don't need you updating the page in a manner that you deem worthy. Thinking that you have the duty or right to update a page about a school that you know nothing about on a personal or intimate level is so condescending. This process reeks of "We are the controllers here. We know what's best for you." An article about Kittrell College's revival can be found in "The Daily Dispatch." You need a subscription, but the web link is as follows: https://www.hendersondispatch.com/eedition/page-a1/page_684f1904-5bd7-5535-9e3e-a985813c9f1f.html. It's called "Kittrell College is Looking Toward A New Life." It's in a real newspaper and all. SFreeman44Sfreeman44 (talk) 16:43, 6 January 2021 (UTC)
Just a few weeks after giving the first-hand account of what is happening with Kittrell College, multiple sources are confirming what I said. The Kittrell College National Alumni Association (KCNAA) just sent their "Save the Date" announcements. They will have a reunion in Richmond, Virginia, from August 19-21,2022. I will post a picture, which I would like to submit as proof that the event is true and not just some lie that I wanted to post. I apologize in advance that the card has no other digital footprint such as a website or social media page. However, Mr. Otis Collins, released a statement via email to the members of the KCNAA stating, "This reunion will be a super special one. We will pledge our support to Dr. Freeman as Kittrell College's next president" (4 January 2021). Evidence that Mr. Collins actually exists and is the head of the KCNAA can be seen here:
https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/baltimore-county/catonsville/ph-ca-wcpro-0308-20170227-story.html. How shall I verify the email statement? I mean, I have spent months talking and planning with Mr. Collins (about Kittrell College), but those conversations have not been covered by WRAL or WTVD or a news outlet yet. SFreeman44Sfreeman44 (talk) 16:43, 6 January 2021 (UTC)
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Hello Dr. Freeman. Thank you for helping to improve the article on Kittrell College. However, I'm shocked to see that nobody actually welcomed you to Wikipedia and provided information on our rules, guidelines, and traditions, which are quite unusual. You've fallen afoul of our policy against conflict-of-interest editing, but this stems from one of our foundational principles, which is neutrality, and another is verifiability. Briefly stated—for more, see the template above or my specific links—because this is an encyclopedia, we factually summarize material as it has been previously published by others, providing references so that the reader can both check our statements, and find out more. So the information about your reopening Kittrell College can only be in the article as a proposal until some news media source writes about it having happened. (BlackcurrantTea talked about this above.) Social media posts can't be used (except for official Facebook or YouTube accounts owned by newspapers or TV/radio stations), but the proposal has attracted news coverage, so I've added a second reference (which I now see you had also suggested above, unfortunately in a completely paywalled version) and your name.
Also, this is an open wiki, a crowdsourced encyclopedia. The very essence of Wikipedia is that editors work together to improve articles. I don't think it's presumptuous to assume you want the same thing for the Kittrell College article (and others on historically Black colleges) as I do and Ncchild does: for it to have a well-written page. That's respect and collegiality, not an insult.
I've marked two facts in the article as needing citations. Can you find us sources we can cite? Properly, because of your conflict of interest, you should suggest them on Talk:Kittrell College rather than continuing to edit the article directly; you can "ping" people such as Ncchild or me, using the syntax I used above, {{U|USERNAME}}. Yngvadottir (talk) 01:32, 8 January 2021 (UTC)
Hello,
Thank you for your note. I am not very familiar with the policies and procedures for this platform, but I want to add relevant details about Kittrell College. History has been made. Being a researcher, I am aware that facts need to be substantiated. I have a bit of a dilemma, however, because I am establishing history within a mostly oral context. What I find highly problematic is that people called what I wrote untrue and all sorts of other things and then took down the information. In the time that they took to judge what I wrote, take it down, and "cite" me with some violation, they could have asked if I needed assistance and offered to give it. I welcome constructive discussions, and I would like to hear one that is helpful in accomplishing a goal--updating this college's page. For example, I mentioned that the Kittrell College National Alumni Association (KCNAA) has no social media pages and no internet presence as an organization. Yet, they exist and are making policies (with me) for this college (which is, by the way, reopening fully in March 2021 and is already doing limited operations). Many KCNAA members are part of a generation that did not use social media. Therefore, I am limited in proving what is discussed or voted upon, and I am limited in having someone update the Kittrell College page. I wanted the updates because KCNAA, the community, and I wanted to let people know that Kittell College is indeed back. If I can't hire someone to update the page (frowned upon) and my doing it is frowned upon, where does that leave me? If I get someone not familiar with the relevant issues related to the college or this community, then what does that say about how diverse cultures get to own, share, and participate in their own information? Sfreeman44 (talk)SFreeman44
- Hello again! Sorry it took me so long to see your reply. As a limited user of social media myself, I quite understand that establishing an online presence is low on the alumni association's list of priorities. But social media or even an alumni website is not the issue here; as an encyclopedia project, we endeavor to use reliable third-party sources, and generally avoid self-published sources, particularly social media. (Known as the reliable sources policy.) That's why I was only able to add your name after finding a news source that included it. This is a separate issue from the conflict of interest matter, and a more fundamental one. The college's notability is not in question, so I would counsel waiting until the reopening has occurred and been covered in the news media, or if you're able to interest a newspaper or TV station in covering the target date for reopening, that can provide a reference Wikipedia can use. (If it's covered in local TV news, there is then a legitimate use of social media that is an exception to the rules: the URL of a Twitter or Facebook update to the station's official account shows that the item was broadcast.) It can't be a paid announcement, though. I'm afraid publicizing it in advance is not what an encyclopedia is for; I very much hope you can find other avenues for that, and I imagine you can because you must see a need in the community. Yngvadottir (talk) 03:01, 14 January 2021 (UTC)