Gabriel Kennedy

The Gryphon • 6th December 2022

Our Unelected Prime Minister: Does Rishi Sunak Have a Democratic Mandate?

Our Unelected Prime Minister: Does Rishi Sunak Have a Democratic Mandate? The destructive tailspin of the Truss government ended with her resignation after a record 44 days, and the Parliamentary Conservative Party filled the power vacuum in Number 10 with a politician that they hoped would bring stability and legitimacy to the government – Rishi Sunak. However, Sunak and the Conservatives are still faced with a critical problem reflected by their continuing struggles in the polls: his appointm

The Gryphon • 31st October 2022

Enough is Enough! National Day of Action Protest in Leeds

Enough is Enough! National Day of Action Protest in Leeds On the 1st of October, protesters nationwide braved the rain and took to the streets in a day of action organised by the Enough is Enough campaign to challenge the growing Cost of Living Crisis. The rally marched from the Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers’ (RMT) picket line at Leeds Train Station on to protest outside the British Gas offices. Later, protestors moved on to support the Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) picket down at t

The Gryphon • 27th October 2022

Weekend of Chaos? Railways or Westminster

As costs of living rise across the country, we’ve seen growing industrial action by unions in recent months, described as “weekend[s] of chaos” by outlets such as The Times, and this only seems set to continue as winter draws near. The Rail, Maritime, and Transport Union (RMT) is planning to strike again on the 3rd, 5th, and 7th of November, stopping almost all trains nationwide and throwing transport networks into a state of disarray. As the Conservative government plans new legal measures to m

Basement Leeds • 10th June 2022

George Bloomfield and Friends at Hyde Park Book Club 6 June 2022

Arriving at Hyde Park Book Club on a gloomy Monday, it didn’t seem the scene for the electric gig that was about to take place. As the supports played and the venue filled up, however, it began to seem certain that the launch of George Bloomfield’s new single Goodnight was going to be a hit. The Leeds-based indie jazz-funk artist has been making waves since the release of his EP Why Didn’t You in 2021, and the success of his new single is signalling only new and exciting steps for his work. The

University • 11th April 2022

En vous basant sur le livre d’Emmanuelle Walter, considérez-vous que les violences à l’égard des femmes, filles et personnes 2ELGBTQQIA autochtones devraient êtres identifié comme génocide ?

Dans Sœurs Volées, Emanuelle Walter fait sa propre investigation du « féminicide » au Canada, suivant principalement les histoires de deux filles disparues : Maisy Odjick et Shannon Alexander (Walter, 2014). À travers ces histoires, Walter apporte la lumière aux réalités du féminicide canadien, et dans ce travail je vais utiliser les évidences qu’elle a fournies pour démontrer que les violences à l’égard des femmes, filles et personnes 2ELGBTQQIA autochtones constituent un génocide.

The Gryphon • 29th March 2022

“C’est le common sense”: Student Protests Take to the Streets of Montreal, Canada

“C’est le common sense”: Student Protests Take to the Streets of Montreal, Canada In Canada, students face many of the same problems as they do in the UK: rising tuition fees, high rents, the threat of climate change, and a growing commodification of education. These problems are recognisable and close to home for many Leeds students, but do students in Canada respond as we do? I’ve been studying in Montreal this year and just at a time when our lecturers in the UK have been striking about the

University • 24th May 2021

How did the Cold War and Decolonisation Intersect?

The thirty years following the end of the Second World War saw the dismantlement of the formal Euro-Western empires in Africa and Asia. However, as this essay will demonstrate, decolonisation did not take place in a vacuum – it was greatly influenced by the Cold War.

University • 19th May 2021

Comparing and contrasting the collective and the individual in the work of Aimé Césaire and Frantz Fanon

Frantz Fanon and Aimé Césaire share many themes in their work, by nature of their shared part in anti-colonial thought and the Négritude movement, as well as their own personal relationship. However, this essay will serve to argue that – at least in the texts that will be focussed upon – their work is marked by a division between respective emphases on the collective and the individual, and the effects of colonialism thereupon, largely shaped by their disciplines of psychiatry and poetry.

University • 4th May 2021

To what extent is the French military intervention in Mali and the Sahel a continuation of the neo-colonial pré carré ?’

On the 11th of January 2013, as Malian rebel forces neared the strategically invaluable airstrip of Sévaré, François Hollande launched Operation Serval – allegedly to ‘prevent jihadist armed groups from reaching Bamako and to restore Mali’s territorial integrity.’ This essay examines the context of that intervention, revealing that – despite the surface-level benevolence of French support to the Malian state – France’s military intervention in Mali and the Sahel at large are rooted in its neo-colonial power and the desire to retain special privileges in the region.