Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Robin N. Hamilton


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was keep. (non-admin closure) Kharkiv07  ( T ) 23:48, 4 August 2015 (UTC)

Robin N. Hamilton

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Subject has not received significant coverage in reliable, independent sources (only source that covers her in-depth is a publication she writes for). Hirolovesswords (talk) 21:57, 28 July 2015 (UTC)


 * Keep. Meets WP:FILMMAKER #4 with significant critical attention devoted to her works in The New York Times, Washington Post, and Clarion-Ledger. She also won a regional Emmy, a Gracie Award, and awards from the National Association of Black Journalists. I'm also finding significant coverage for her in some paywalled sources.  gobonobo  + c 23:39, 28 July 2015 (UTC)


 * Keep. Meets WP:FILMMAKER #4b and #4c. #4b states "has been a substantial part of a significant exhibition", and her film has opened the March on Washington Film Festival as covered in the The New York Times, Washington Post, and Clarion-Ledger and will be screening at the Martha's Vineyard Film Festival, and NYC Independent Film Festival. Also, the Library of Congress American Folklife Center has included her film in its exhibition, Many Paths to Freedom: Looking Back, Looking Ahead at the Long Civil Rights Movement. #4c states "has won significant critical attention" and the media links above (as stated above by user:gobonobo) illustrate that point. She also has received significant coverage in other major publications such as the Boston Globe and the Boston Herald. Additionally, Ms. Hamilton is being interviewed by well-known NPR host Michel Martin at the Hill Center. Finally, in addition to the awards she won which were cited above by user:gobonobo, she was also nominated for an additional regional Emmy and NABJ Salute to Excellence Award. Techtacular (talk) 07:05, 29 July 2015 (UTC)


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 * probable delete I take the Nom's point. Hamilton has not been the subject of anything like a profile or in-depth coverage that I can see. I did not search for her, not my usual practice, because in this case a near-SPA has been so diligent assembling sources that I looked at them instead.  The claim here is that Hamilton made a film that carries her past WP:FILMMAKER #4b and #4c.  Support for this is pretty marginal.  For one thing, it's a "short" film.  For another,  Her film is about Fannie Lou Hamer. It was mentioned in a number of articles, but some of these are pretty slender reeds upon which to support notability.  For example, the film was shown at film festival called the "March on Washington Film Festival". The WaPo in it's article about the festival, wrote: "a new short film about Hamer, “This Little Light of Mine: The Legacy of Fannie Lou Hamer,”", and The Clarion-Ledger in Hamer's home town in its write-up of the festival said only: "included a showing of Robin Hamilton’s documentary “This Little Light of Mine: The Legacy of Fannie Lou Hamer.”" .  I'm just not seeing anything significant.E.M.Gregory (talk) 16:12, 29 July 2015 (UTC)
 * Update I have added more citations, including the Boston Globe and Boston Herald as mentioned above (and now another two Globe articles and an additional Herald article on top), NPR's Michel Martin interview, a radio interview of Hamilton on WPFW (go to 2:09 of the 7/19 Spirit of Jazz episode), and a feature story on Hamilton and the film by All Digitocracy. But I would respectfully request the nominator and the probable dissenter user::E.M.Gregory to reconsider their position, as no one has disputed WP:FILMMAKER #4b which states "has been a substantial part of a significant exhibition." Her inclusion in the Library of Congress exhibition certainly qualifies. And then there are the three film festivals. The NYTimes, WaPo, Washington Informer, et al. all covered the March on Washington Film Festival, showing the festival is a significant exhibition. Her film opened the March on Washington Film Festival, which is a huge honor in the film festival world and shows it was substantial part of the exhibition. Also, I believe you are downplaying the significant media coverage. In the coverage of the film festival listed above, Hamilton's film is either the only film mentioned or the featured film in the article. The entire first four paragraphs of the New York Times article are exclusively about people going to see the film and the film itself:


 * START OF NYT QUOTE:"WASHINGTON — Septuagenarians from the era of the civil rights movement slowly climbed the steps of Metropolitan A.M.E. church here, some receiving kisses on the cheek from the young man at the door. They mingled with other generations — throngs of government workers, young law students inspired by recent protests, and even a few lesser-known legends of that struggle.


 * They gathered for the opening of the March on Washington Film Festival, which focuses largely on the midcentury struggle for civil rights and is intended as much to kindle activism as to showcase new films. The festival began Wednesday at the church with the new documentary “This Little Light of Mine: The Legacy of Fannie Lou Hamer,” directed by Robin N. Hamilton.


 * Ms. Hamer came to prominence at the 1964 Democratic National Convention and in the film discusses her battles in Mississippi for simple acts of justice; being beaten while in police custody because she had been educating black voters about their rights; and “test questions,” including one about the number of bubbles a soap bar produces, used as barriers to voter registration.


 * In her remarks at that convention, she said: “Is this America? The land of the free and the home of the brave?” Her words took on extra resonance at this, the third year of the festival, after the recent deaths of unarmed black people in encounters with the police, and the killings at a church in Charleston, S.C." END OF NYT QUOTE.


 * The WaPo article starts the first several paragraphs by talking about the festival, and then moves into talking about the film and the panel that included Hamilton and other people featured in the film and Hamilton and her film by far receive the more coverage in the article than any other part of the film festival:


 * START OF WaPo QUOTE:"In addition to a new short film about Hamer, “This Little Light of Mine: The Legacy of Fannie Lou Hamer,” Wednesday’s event included a panel with filmmaker Robin Hamilton, along with those featured in the film: Vergie Hamer Faulkner, Hamer’s daughter (Hamer, who died in 1977, had been sterilized without her knowledge), recalled being 9 and witnessing the start of her mother’s activism. She also spoke about the threats on Hamer’s life.


 * Eleanor Holmes Norton (D), the District’s delegate to Congress, recounted her efforts to get Hamer and activist Lawrence Guyot out of a Winona, Miss., jail after brutal beatings. Hamer was viciously beaten and nearly killed. Guyot, Norton said, had been beaten and was left naked; Norton had to wait for him to find something to cover himself. She was a second-year Yale law student at the time and, like Hamer and Guyot, worked with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).


 * Norton told a rapt audience at the Metropolitan AME Church in downtown Washington about seeing Hamer’s fresh bruises.


 * “There’s nobody I can compare her with,” she said.


 * Along with Hamilton and Faulkner, other panel participants were SNCC alum Dorie Ladner; the Rev. Ed King, a white activist who worked with Hamer in the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party; and longtime activist, educator and Mississippi politician Leslie McLemore."END OF WaPo QUOTE.


 * These festivals are all pretty big deals--for instance, HBO is very active in the Martha's Vineyard one. And you only need to think one (Library of Congress, or the 3 festivals) of these is "significant" in order for Hamilton to qualify. Regarding #4c states "has won significant critical attention" If the New York Times, The Washington Post, the Clarion Ledger, the Shreveport Times, and the Washington Informer don't move you, then for WP:JOURNALIST #4c "has won significant critical attention" I hope the Emmy Award, the Gracie Award, and the two NABJ Salute to Excellence Awards do move you. These are notable awards in journalism. BTW, the Shreveport Times also picked up the Clarion-Ledger article. With all respect, I do ask you to consider these points. Much thanks! Techtacular (talk) 11:53, 4 August 2015 (UTC)


 * Keep per  gobonobo 's comments above.  JSFarman (talk) 22:13, 30 July 2015 (UTC)


 * Keep per and . References currently in article (July 31) confirm subject meets the WP:GNG.--Tomwsulcer (talk) 22:20, 31 July 2015 (UTC)
 * comment I was asked to revisit this by SPA Techtacular. The problem I'm having with it is that there are no actual reviews of this short documentary, and the multitudinous new sources are mere mentions of Hamilton or of the film; the only profile is in a non-bluelinked online publication All Digitocracy. Everything else appears to be a mere mention of her, or her film.  She is, certainly, a TV reporter who is known in Boston; but that is usually not enough to pass GNG without a profile.   Usually  The NYTimes piece , which I read before making my previous comment (I did do a brief search, just not thorough since the SPA appeared to have culled so many very minor ones), consists of: "The festival began Wednesday at the church with the new documentary “This Little Light of Mine: The Legacy of Fannie Lou Hamer,” directed by Robin N. Hamilton." followed by material about the Movement and mentions of the other films, we don't get anything more about this film until the final paragraph:  "When Ms. Hamer asked her famous question on film, some in the audience dabbed at tears. But later, wrinkled hands clapped backs and audience members rose in the pews, wrapped their arms around their seatmates and swayed to a joyous rendition of “This Little Light of Mine,” making the room, for a moment, feel weightless."   That, as far as I can see, is the closest this film comes to a review.  I am unclear where User:Gobonobo is seeing a review, "critical attention" as per WP:FILMMAKER: "The person's work (or works) either (a) has become a significant monument, (b) has been a substantial part of a significant exhibition, (c) has won significant critical attention, or (d) is represented within the permanent collections of several notable galleries or museums."  The argument made by the SPA is that one or all of these film festivals qualify her under 4b.  I suppose it comes down to whether these festivals are sufficiently "notable".    I don't edit of come to AFD much on films.  So I'll leave this to those who do.E.M.Gregory (talk) 13:26, 4 August 2015 (UTC)
 * comment First, I added another link, Hamilton is being interviewed today on the Kojo Nnamdi Show, and NPR has the podcasts after they air. I will link to NPR podcast when it is available. I did ask you to revisit, hoping for an honest debate, but the user's arguments have changed. The first four paragraphs of the NYTimes article specifically talk about Hamilton, the film and what is in the film (the way I read the article is that the description of Hamer's work at the Convention and being beaten by police is in the film). Also, the user above doesn't address the awards. I agree with your conclusion on 4b, and I've already argued above that Library of Congress exhibition is notable (as are the festivals), so I won't rehash. However, the most disappointing part of this is that you repeatedly refer to me as a SPA, which I am not. But even if I was, that would be irrelevant to this debate. I've kept my comments to the merit of the debate and will continue to do so. Techtacular (talk) 16:29, 4 August 2015 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.