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August 2015

Thank you for your decision Bishonen. I reported an editor for systematic provocation, insults and character assassination to ANI and in your judgment you felt I deserved to be blocked. I would like to thank you for taking the time to examine the case as diligently as you have. And I fully accept your decision to block. Thank you. Tamsier (talk) 08:55, 21 August 2015 (UTC)

Despite our disagreements, I'd like to thank you for your support of Malik Shabazz. I had hoped and tried to get his Admin status restored but he chose to retire. He's a real loss and I hope that at some time he returns. Doug Weller (talk) 09:08, 21 August 2015 (UTC)

He is a brilliant editor and brilliant admin and I wish him all the best in whatever he chooses to do. Sometimes people just want to move on, but I hope in his case he returns one day. Tamsier (talk) 09:27, 21 August 2015 (UTC)

Tamsier (block log • active blocks • global blocks • contribs • deleted contribs • filter log • creation log • change block settings • unblock • checkuser (log))

Request reason:

I am writing to submit an unblock request. I was blocked 3 years ago for WP:NOTHERE. My passion in helping to develop African related articles at the time, also led me to engage in many disputes with certain editors. I have taken fully responsibility for my part in those disagreements and admit that I could have been more collaborative with editors I thought I could not get along with. My sharp togue (or in this case hot fingers) got me into situations I wished I never was in, as it takes a hell of a lot of time - commenting back and forth and ends up achiving nothing. This block is 3 years old, and my intention when I come back are to help develop the project in a collaborative manner without the battleground attitude. Despite my block, even the blocking admin stated : "However, I believe Tamsier has knowledge and skills that could potentially help the encyclopedia; if he writes a reasonable unblock request, which shows some awareness of the problems with his own editing, it should certainly be entertained." It is this knowledge and skills that I would like to employ for the benefit of the project. I have long moved on from the person I was 3 years ago and wish to come back and help as much as I can. Cheers! Tamsier (talk) 00:52, 21 August 2018 (UTC)

Accept reason:

Block has been lifted. Please make sure you pay attention to the conditions. SQL 20:21, 22 August 2018 (UTC)

Tamsier, I'm not over-impressed by your comment below: "That passion have however gotten me into a lot of trouble with certain English Wiki editors. On my part, I do take some responsibility for that as I could have been gentler in disputes." (my emphasis) as your lengthy and vitriolic personal attacks were 100% your fault. Totally, 100%, you understand? The responsibility for them was all yours. And the "certain English Wiki editors" comment could come across as a bit pointy. But that could be due to the subtleties of different uses of English in different parts of the world, and I'll assume good faith and accept your statement that you have moved on and hold no grudges. In line with the blocking admin's comments at the time, I'm prepared to consider an unblock now, after a consultation - @Bishonen: What do you think? Boing! said Zebedee (talk) 08:25, 21 August 2018 (UTC)

Tamsier's unblock request sounds good: moving on without the battleground attitude is exactly what's wanted, and three years is a long time. However, I too am unimpressed by his comments below, at "Please come back and help us in project Africa", which sound a bit different. Unless Drmies and Doug Weller, who have more previous experience of the user than me, support an immediate unblock, I would rather put up his unblock request for community decision at WP:AN. Bishonen | talk 10:09, 21 August 2018 (UTC).

Yep, that makes sense. Let's see what they might say (and see how Tamsier might respond). Boing! said Zebedee (talk) 11:03, 21 August 2018 (UTC)

(Oh, and I'll add that I have read through the whole history of this case, which was not my most pleasant experience. Boing! said Zebedee (talk) 11:04, 21 August 2018 (UTC))

Tamsier, I'm going to be blunt. I have always been in favor of more representation of African subjects and have even spent money on sources besides of course time to improve some of them. Your enthusiasm for improving these is great. But I had a serious problem with your sourcing and content, which I think comes from your sincere belief in the old Serer religion and its truth, that the Serer have been in Africa forever, etc. This has made it difficult for you to follow our policies and guidelines when editing Serer related articles. I think that any unblock request needs to be made at WP:ANI via your talk page - there will be people who will repost comments you make here to your ANI request. I'm sure nobody, including you, wants a repeat of what happened that led to your block. Doug Weller talk 13:35, 21 August 2018 (UTC)

I would love for almost anyone to come back, including Tamsier. But yes, we spent a lot of time and energy dealing with the Serer issues--I think I have a big fat file full of articles and copies here still, and Interlibrary Loan worked overtime for a while for me. It was good French practice, though. RS is one of our pillars (Doug was probably more focused on neutrality), and that was a big problem for me, besides the ... passion sometimes displayed. Putting the blame on "certain English" editors also makes me question the request. What I could go for is an unblock that either has a Serer topic ban, or a 1R restriction, maybe both. Tamsier, if you can live with that, I can support that. Drmies (talk) 14:54, 21 August 2018 (UTC)

Thank you all. I am particularly pleased to have Doug Weller and Drmies commenting on this request because I feel that there input is very important especially if I'm to return here and contribute collaboratively moving forward. Good move @Bishonen: for pinging them. Regarding the first concern raised by @Boing! said Zebedee: (and others), that is merely an English language subtlety. Also, I was copying and pasting my response to the editor from my French talk page to here - with a little bit of edition for context. I even made couple of typos in my original reply to the editor at my French talk page and had to edit it later. Just to clarify, I take full responsibility for my block and my actions leading to my block, and accepted the decision of the blocking admin as stated all those years ago. We all use the Queen's English differently depending on where we find ourselves in, and there are bound to be subtitles. I am willing to accept @Drmies:'s 1R restriction on all Serer related articles up to 6 months if that's is okay with him. After that, it can be reviewed by an admin. I was not working only on serer articles but I can appreciate that's where he knows me from. @ @Doug Weller:, when I create any Serer/ African related article, believe me, the most important thing that goes in my mind is "to give it everything I have with respect to Wiki policies so that it can be viewed as respectable and scholarly just like any other non-African related article (especially history, etc.)." For me, it stops being "just another Wiki article" (no judgment meant here), but I feel I must give it all my level best and scour as much sources in my library here and documents in my position to give it any respectability whatsoever. And as we all know, many people (and I'm not referring to Wiki or its editors – I’m talking about in generality here – in the real world) do not respect Africans and their history and culture. So for me, it is extremely important that I put the hard work into that article and go through as many sources, many of which are not even available online - just to give the article any merit or sense of respectability with respect to Wiki policy and scholarly refs. In other words, it seems like we have more to prove, and I'm not referring to Wiki here. This is bigger than Wiki. Therefore, as far as I am concerned, it defeats the purpose if any African related article is unbalanced or unscholarly. When I come across a notable African article and it is poorly sourced or god forbid has no sources whatsoever, it gets on my skin because no matter how notable the subject, it seems we have more to prove, and I take it upon myself to source and copy edit it. A good example of what I'm talking about is the Sundiata Keita article I worked on all those years ago (see its talk page if you want). Yes, my tone in the talk page could have been gentler, but I was disappointed that any African would have allowed that article to stand in the state it was without intervening. Once I've tackled the issues in that article, I moved on. That's how I approach my edits. And as I always say, any article can be improved. Working together, and going to the talk pages to discuss issues respectfully with one another – in a collaborative and supportive manner, is what I plan to focus on moving forward. I think it is unfortunate that many Black/Africans have left the project. To me, it does me no good nor does it do any good for Africa or the Wiki project if any African article I've created/edited is seen as weak, unbalanced or unscholarly. As you can appreciate, even editors who have had disagreements with me in the past agreed that I'm not always wrong when it comes to African history/culture (as confirmed by sources - as I've read a lot over the years). Moving forward, if I am to create any more articles, I will create them in my sandbox and when finished, invite you and others to view it or submit it to AFC for approval before uploading to main space. My return here is to help develop the project in my area of expertise. I have long moved on from the issues 3 years ago, and I hold no grudges. I am much older and wiser and there are more important things in life than holding on to grudges or being hot headed. Therefore, when I return here, my only plan is working collaboratively with others and avoid any battleground attitude. As, I've stated above, it takes a hell of a lot of time out of you and it achieves nothing. It derails things and its is very taxing not to menion bad for my mental health. It takes a lot of you. Sad that I didn't realised this 3 or so years ago. However I was young and foolish then. I'm much older and wiser now, and my return here is for positivity only. No negativity. I would like to add that, it is also extremely important to me that I have the full support of Drmies and Doug Weller. This is why I think Bish was wise to ping them to this request. The full support of Drmies and Doug is very important and it would help things moving forward. Despite our differences in the past, I do respect their wok and experience here, and hope to start afresh with both of them in a collaborative and supportive way. If these two editors feel that they would be unable to support me because of what has happened previously, then with regret I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their contribution here, however, I ask that, this request be denied. To me, the total support of Doug and Drmies is very important to me if we are to even think about moving forward. Whatever their decision, I totally respect, but I hope they can give me that opportunity to show them a different side to me and/or my work. Again, I hold no grudges. And I thank everyone for their contribution here, and hope to work collaborative in the future with everyone for the benefit of the project. Thank you. Tamsier (talk) 22:29, 21 August 2018 (UTC)

Boing!, I've read through the history too, and, in my opinion, a 1RR restriction is insufficient. If we are going to unblock without going via AN, Tamsier needs to first accept an indefinite topic ban from Serer related pages, broadly construed. Tamsier, please read WP:TBAN to see how a topic ban works. It would leave you free to improve pages that are not related to Serer. If that is not acceptable to you, I believe your unblock request should take its chances at WP:AN. Bishonen | talk 11:21, 22 August 2018 (UTC).

I agree. If Tamsier will accept a topic ban from Serer related pages edits, broadly construed plus a 1RR restriction (which can be appealed, say, after 12 months of other work?), then I think there is sufficient consensus here for an unblock. Without a Serer topic ban, I would not unblock without an appeal to WP:AN. Boing! said Zebedee (talk) 11:31, 22 August 2018 (UTC)

I can agree to that, but I'd like "broadly construed" added, and probably "pages" changed to "edits". Doug Weller talk 14:53, 22 August 2018 (UTC)

Me too--what Doug says, and the others. Drmies (talk) 15:08, 22 August 2018 (UTC)

Adjusted, as suggested. Boing! said Zebedee (talk) 15:14, 22 August 2018 (UTC)

OK. Topic ban from Serer edits and 1RR for all edits, both broadly construed and to be appealed to the community (WP:AN) no sooner that 12 months from now. Tamsien, please see WP:1RR for the definition of that rule. The admins here are agreed, as you can see; now it's for you to decide whether or not to accept commuting your block to these restrictions. Bishonen | talk 16:10, 22 August 2018 (UTC).

That's fine. Thank you Drmies and Doug. Tamsier (talk) 16:47, 22 August 2018 (UTC)

Good. Please see the formal notice below. Bishonen | talk 19:06, 22 August 2018 (UTC).

Contests

User:Dr. Blofeld has created Misplaced Pages:WikiProject Africa/Contests. The idea is to run a series of contests/editathons focusing on each region of Africa. He has spoken to Wikimedia about it and $1000-1500 is possible for prize money. As someone who has previously expressed interest in African topics, would you be interested in contributing to one or assisting draw up core article/missing article lists? He says he's thinking of North Africa for an inaugural one in October. If interested please sign up in the participants section of the Contest page, thanks.♦ --Ser Amantio di Nicolao_{Lo dicono a Signa.} 01:38, 21 July 2016 (UTC)

Thank you

I just want to say thank you for creating Alieu Ebrima Cham Joof and several African articles. For years I've been interested in this person and can't thank you enough. I know you retired and were blocked years ago so you may not see this, but thank you for all your work on African topics. It is a shame that we are losing so many Black editors on Misplaced Pages. If you are reading this please come back. The Africa project needs more people like you. Senegambianamestudy (talk) 15:53, 18 July 2018 (UTC)

The Africa Award

		The Africa Award
		Thank you for the amazing work you've done on African articles. Senegambianamestudy (talk) 23:47, 22 July 2018 (UTC)

Thank you @Senegambianamestudy:. Tamsier (talk) 01:04, 21 August 2018 (UTC)

Please come back and help us in project Africa

Hello Tamsier. If you are reading this please come back and help us. We really need your help in project Africa and Wolof Wiki as evident here. This is only an indefinite block, and it is always down to the indef blocked editor to appeal to get their editing privileges back. It is as simple as that which I'm sure you already know. This is not a total ban. Its only an indef. You've been away for many years now, please appeal this and come back to English Misplaced Pages. We keep losing many good Black and African editors on English Wiki and this is beginning to give me a headache. I left you a message on your French Wiki talk page. You can respond there or here. Hope all is okay. Senegambianamestudy (talk)

Hi @Senegambianamestudy: Thank you for the lovely email you've sent me and the messages you've left on my talk page. I rarely monitor that email address but did receive your message. That email address was set up many years ago to help a fellow French Wiki editor contact me so that I can give them my real email. Thanks for your kind words and encouragement, and I'm glad you appreciated my work at Wiki English. I will address all your comments on my talk page here rather than going back and forth to each section (that ones you left here and my French Wiki talk). Yes, I do have another pictures of Cham. I think it was shot in the 1960s outside Radio Gambia (I am guessing 1967). I will try and upload this to Wiki Commons as free. The other 2 I've upload years ago are historic. The one taken in the 60s is not very good quality unfortunately. There is some age to it. If that's fine, let me know and hopefully the Wiki guys can work their magic on it and bring it back to live. I do have an old photo of Tafsir Demba. That however is a historic photo taken in the 1940s. Unfortunately I can't make that free. However when there is an article about him I can upload it as a non-free as it is historic and the subject matter historic. As regards to the language issue you've noted, I don't mind helping at all. No problem! I can help every now and then. As for your last point about appealing my block, I will try and appeal it. To be honest with you, it’s been 3 years now and I've totally moved on. However your email was so touching and I'm saddened to learn that a lot of Black/African editors are leaving or have left English Wiki. We've all known for a long time that Africa is the most underrepresented in English Wiki - hence why I was passionately trying to help Africa related articles especially in the areas I'm competent in. That passion have however gotten me into a lot of trouble with certain English Wiki editors. On my part, I do take some responsibility for that as I could have been gentler in disputes. However that's years ago and I've totally moved on from that. I hold no grudges. It's a thing of the past. I'll appeal and try to help as much as I can. Cheers! Tamsier (talk) 00:21, 21 August 2018 (UTC)

Glad you received my email. Thanks for getting back. Any more pics just upload them to Commons. Good luck with your appeal.Senegambianamestudy (talk) 10:27, 21 August 2018 (UTC)

Thanks @Senegambianamestudy: I'm back to help as much as I can. If you need help with anything let me know. I've seen the Babel thread on your talk page. I'll add my name to the list. By the way, you did an awesome job with portal:Gullah. I may steal the layout for Portal:Pan-Africanism which I will work on when I have time in the next few days. Feel free to add your input/ideas if you want to work on it with me. I will post it at Talk:Pan-Africanism for anyone that wants to help. Tamsier (talk) 04:19, 23 August 2018 (UTC)

Nice to have you back. I admire your contributions even more after reading above especially the Sundiata Keita thing. Glad you like Portal Gullah. I took inspiration from some of the portals you and others have created before. But portals are not easy though! Jeez! Sure! If you need my input just ping me at Talk Pan. That reminds me, since you are familiar with French Misplaced Pages would you mind translating Portal:Traditional African religion to French? Also, could you translate some pages to Wolof Misplaced Pages? Senegambianamestudy (talk) 10:16, 23 August 2018 (UTC)

These restrictions now apply to you

In exchange for being unblocked, you are topic banned from all edits related to the Serer people, and are under a sitewide 1RR restriction. Both restrictions are indefinite and broadly construed. They have been logged at Misplaced Pages:Editing restrictions. You can appeal them to the community, for instance at WP:AN, but no sooner than 12 months from now. Please ask if there's anything about the restrictions you don't understand. If you should violate them, you are likely to be blocked. Your indefinite block has been lifted. Happy editing! Bishonen | talk 19:06, 22 August 2018 (UTC).