Template:Did you know nominations/Bruce Mayrock


 * The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as |this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: rejected by — Crisco 1492 (talk) 00:32, 28 June 2014 (UTC)

Withdrawn (see below)

Bruce Mayrock

 * ... that Bruce Mayrock set himself on fire in front of the United Nations Headquarters to protest what he believed was genocide against the nation and people of Biafra in the Nigerian civil war?

Created/expanded by Ochiwar (talk). Self nominated at 16:19, 6 June 2014 (UTC).


 * Symbol question.svg New (2nd), long enough, no QPQ necessary (though this appears to be your fourth DYK, so you'll need one in the future). On neutrality, "genocide" is only mentioned in the Sri Lankan source. You may want to couch that term in his language, replace it with something else, or have the "genocide" part referenced in a major, reliable source. On the copyvio check, things like "to his knees beside a statue bearing the Biblical inscription" are copied verbatim from the print source and the whole article should be revisited to avoid this sort of direct, close paraphrasing. On another note, this article may have WP:BIO1E issues and be better covered in an the article on the genocide or civil war, depending on what kind of lasting coverage exists. I've also been to Mount Ararat before—I have family interred there. I'll see if I can get a shot of the headstone next time I'm around. Please ping me if I don't respond. czar ♔   00:18, 16 June 2014 (UTC)
 * Thank you very much for your review. I have copyedited and hopefully improved the close paraphrasing you mention. On the neutrality of the word "genocide", may I point out that the Columbia Spectator also mentions the word, infact it is the word chosen by Mayrock himself as his last message, displayed on his cardboard sign which said, "You must stop the genocide--please save 9 million Biafrans", so that is Mayrock`s language. I have however added Chinua Achebe, whose autobiography I would regard as a reliable source. My book sample access does not give me a page number, but in the last paragraphs of the chapter "Blood, Blood, Everywhere", Achebe distinctly recalls that Mayrock took his actions "to protest the killing of innocent Biafran babies" and "what he believed was genocide in Biafra". Consequently I have couched the hook by adding "what he believed was" to show that justified or not, this was Mayrock`s opinion and motivation for his actions. I hope that works better, let me know what you think. If you make it to Mount Ararat, it would be great to have the head stone in the article, thanks a lot. Ochiwar (talk) 08:41, 17 June 2014 (UTC)
 * Ping Czar; template now ready for review update.--Storye book (talk) 15:44, 18 June 2014 (UTC)
 * I saw the update—will give it a look over this weekend when I have a moment czar ♔   01:40, 19 June 2014 (UTC)


 * , my main point was about NPOV concerns with the use of "genocide", and that sources should describe the event as genocide for the term to be used. I have to admit that I don't understand why Achebe would need to be used as a source when there should be ample news coverage of both Mayrock and the genocide. Additionally, you wouldn't (I hope) source a part of an article from a Google Books preview unless you could fully confirm what it says... Anyway, the addition of that source also messed up the sourcing for the preceding sentences and makes it look like all of that Mayrock stuff is sourced in Achebe's book. Is that right? Those things need to be cleaned up. The "what he believed was" is fine (as just quoting it as his own words would also be) and was the couching I suggested. It should be repeated or phrased similarly in the article's intro as well. czar ♔   03:17, 22 June 2014 (UTC)
 * Seems to be a case of WP:ONEEVENT. I'm taking it to AfD. --  Ohc  ¡digame! 08:09, 26 June 2014 (UTC)
 * Withdrawing nomination for DYK based on pending AfD. Ochiwar (talk) 20:27, 26 June 2014 (UTC)