Talk:Brenda Frazier (politician)

GA Review

This review is transcluded from Talk:Brenda Frazier (politician)/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Reviewer: Indy beetle (talk · contribs) 10:36, 15 June 2023 (UTC)

I'll take this one. On first glance the article seems well source and well put together, and my comments focus on clarification for a WP:GLOBAL audience. There is a vague tone of personal career resume which I think can be rectified. I've also made some copy edits for concision. Initial comments:

• Her father worked during World War II in the steel mills Remove "the" in "the steel mills". Local steel mills?

I've removed "the". Unfortunately the source doesn't elaborate on the type of steel mills.

• Her mother was a teacher who often had a difficult time finding work as a result of her gender and race. It might be worth clarifying here what her mother's race was (black I presume).

The source doesn't specify her race so while black is a fair assumption, I'm hesitant as to whether it would be OR.

Understandable.

• Frazier became involved in activism while at university Civil rights activism?

Changed.

• She began working as an elementary school teacher in Pittsburgh, where she became involved with the teacher's union. Is it known when she was hired as a teacher? Also, what does "involved with the teacher's union" mean? Did she join or take a leadership position?

I've changed "involved with" to joined as there is no evidence that she had a leadership role. I've also re-arranged this section slightly to try and fit in the dates better.

• The family was part of the integration of a white neighborhood in Pittsburgh Specifically, what does this mean? Were they one of the first black families to move into a certain white-dominated neighborhood in Pittsburgh?

The source doesn't specifically say that but I've added in slightly more information.

• Frazier brought her children to meetings and rallies in Washington, D.C. Civil rights groups-related meetings and rallies? Political party meetings and rallies?

The source just says with "activists" so I've added that in.

• First Pittsburgh chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW). "First" or "first"?

The chapter is called "First Pittsburgh" (presumably as it was the first one founded in the city).

OK that makes sense.

• However, she was determined to continue to focus on combating racism, even after joining NOW. This implies that NOW or being a member of it was somehow contradictory to combatting racism, which I'm not seeing being plainly obvious unless sources explicitly suggest such. Suggest revision.

I've tried to expand this section. Let me know if you think any more context would be useful.

• She was inspired by the 1978 national conference but continued to challenge white feminists and African American leaders about the connection between racism and sexism; she urged Jesse Jackson to consider the importance of the women's movement. This whole sentence is rather vague, and implies in Wikivoice that there is an obvious connection between sexism and racism. This is not explained and if this is meant to reflect her personal views on prejudice in the US it should be made explicit that this is what she thought. "She was inspired by the 1978 national conference" What about this conferenced "inspired" her and to do what? Suggest revision.

Slightly amended. I'll look for more sources on what topics were covered at the 1978 national conference, I haven't been able to find anything with a quick search.

• Frazier was appointed as one of the chairs of the national organization's minority women's committee, alongside Jackie Washington and Val Cafee, and she organized a task force on Black feminism. Are dates available here?

I've tried to add a rough date.

• As chair of the anti-racism committee, she worked with LaVera Brown to form the Committee to Counter the Klan, which was later renamed the Committee to Counter Hate Groups, in response to an upswing in local activity of the Ku Klux Klan. Are we missing something here? It seems odd that they would change their name towards explicitly countering the KKK to countering hate groups broadly when the KKK was the primary issue?

It was renamed later (as the taskforce was around until 2002), I've tried to amend the sentence to make that clearer.

Ah ok, thank you for the revision. I thought it originally implied that the organization renamed itself due to the upswing in KKK activity, which didn't make much sense.

• She was a board member of the Pittsburgh Partnership for Neighborhood Development and vice president of the North Side Community Leadership Fund. She was a president of the Stanton Heights Civic Association and a member of the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) Women's Advisory Commission. She helped to found the parent-teacher association at Peabody High School. Dates available?

Unfortunately I'm not able to find any dates for these.

• She is also a supporter of LGBT issues LGBT rights?

Changed.

• Frazier was first elected to the Allegheny County Council for District 13 in 2001, taking over the two year remainder of Tom Foerster's term in office. Was this some sort of interim election, did Foerster retire early?

He died in office, which I have added.

• She ran as a Democrat but was not endorsed by the party, likely due to her connections with Republican Jim Roddey, According to who? Also, this section of the article seems to imply that by winning a party primary (where I presume the party itself would not take official stances) she secured a public office? How is that so, was there a general election afterwards? Was Foerster a Democrat and thus his unfinished term had to be filled by another Democrat?

Added more information.

• Frazier served as chair of the organization that she founded, the Allegheny County Black Elected Officials. Dates?

I wasn't able to find any information except that she was chair in 2003 and 2007.

• She chaired the health and human services committee and was a member of the appointment review, budget and finance, economic development, government relations, and campaign reforms committees. Of the county council or of " Allegheny County Black Elected Officials"?

Clarified.

• She was approached in 2005 about contesting the election for the mayor of Pittsburgh. By who? Seems rather trivial if she didn't run unless there was some active recruitment for candidacy which we're not mentioning.

Removed.

• She was the co-sponsor of legislation to add term limits for volunteers serving on county boards. When? Also the word "legislation" is typically reserved for state laws in the US. At the time she was a county official. Would "county ordinance" or something else be better?

Added in the date. I've changed "legislation" to match the source.

• He challenged Frazier's nominating petition in the court of common pleas, a case which was unsuccessful but which he appealed to the Commonwealth Court. And lost, I presume?

I couldn't find a source that said that but I added information about the primary and general election.

• Frazier served on the Pennsylvania Democratic Committee and was the founder of a Black caucus within the organization. Dates?

The source says "currently" but it doesn't have a date.

• The formation of the East End chapter of NOW was honored in an exhibit entitled 'Strength in the Struggle: Civil Rights' at the August Wilson Center. If her role in its formation was a part of the commemoration this should be made explicit.

Slightly expanded.

• Frazier was also interviewed for In Sisterhood: The Women's Movement in Pittsburgh, a multimedia project run by Patricia Ulbrich. Dates and what was this project supposed to cover.

Expanded.

-Indy beetle (talk) 10:36, 15 June 2023 (UTC)

@Indy beetle: Thank you for taking a look at this. I've tried to reply to your comments above and amend the article although there are some limitations as most sources about her life aren't too detailed. Let me know if you'd like me to make any other changes or clarify anything. Sammielh (talk) 21:08, 17 June 2023 (UTC)

Final comments

• I'm satisfied with the above responses.
• Earwig's tool returns a 27 percent similarity for the In Sisterhood page, but this is mostly due to names of institutions and such. I revised one sentence myself to avoid close wording.
• With regards to the early life section, I see now that the In Sisterhood page seems to be discussing her parents' careers while they were living around Pittsburgh. This is why I was confused about the steel mills, as you mention her father's vocation before the relocation from Shelby, which in the 1940s was home to several lucrative textile mills but no steel mills as far as I was aware. I suspect you might have made this choice to avoid to closely mirroring the source, which makes sense. But there might be another way of writing this without implying that her father was a steel worker while they lived in Shelby and such.
• She also received the endorsement of the Pittsburgh-Post Gazette in both elections. I'd prefer if this weren't cited using the editorial endorsements themselves as WP:PRIMARY sources, but this is a minor point.
• No images available but seems understandable considering that this is primarily a local figure.

-Indy beetle (talk) 17:41, 18 June 2023 (UTC)

1. It is reasonably well written.

   a. (prose, spelling, and grammar):

   b. (MoS for lead, layout, word choice, fiction, and lists):

2. It is factually accurate and verifiable.

   a. (reference section):

   b. (citations to reliable sources):

   c. (OR):

   d. (copyvio and plagiarism):

3. It is broad in its coverage.

   a. (major aspects):

   b. (focused):

4. It follows the neutral point of view policy.

   Fair representation without bias:

5. It is stable.

   No edit wars, etc.:

6. It is illustrated by images and other media, where possible and appropriate.

   a. (images are tagged and non-free content have non-free use rationales):

   b. (appropriate use with suitable captions):

7. Overall:

   Pass/fail:

(Criteria marked are unassessed)