Gabriel's Story

the first question is what are your
hopes and fears for the
future me personally or for the world
you personally for me my hopes and fears
for
the uh my hopes are that I'm able to
develop a sustainable freelance career
wherein um I'm able to um continuously
um bring communities together for the
event I curate and um I'm able to get uh
regular creative bookings for work that
I'm passionate about um I also just hope
to be able to afford a home I hope to
afford to to married um to be able to
live comfortably at some point um I also
hope uh because even for myself I guess
I'm rooted in the world so I guess I'm
still hoping other stuff around the
world I hope for uh um like a return of
monoculture I think a big society and it
really affects me is that like there's
no commonality between people anymore um
like we don't have a shared language
like back in the day you know everyone
used to watch X Factor everyone used to
like watch together we used to like you
know the pop music in the chart at least
we all knew it even if like it we know
it but now is a thing where like we have
such fractured microcultures austerity
has really affected to have like shared
public resources so like even if you
look at football like we can't even
watch football and BBC anymore like I'm
not even football but it's like you have
to Amazon service or
B and you have to subcribe individually
for different matches and that's just
not affordable sustainable for people
the kids can't grow up like knowing
football regularly anymore like they
learn football by FIFA which is crazy I
know that for my kids um uh right yeah I
think other things are like yeah like
you said you need more investment in
public resources whether that be whether
that be schools whether that be youth
clubs so that people can shared
experience and care about the world that
they live in yeah so you mentioned like
community housing public resources so I
guess the first question I'll have is in
terms of housing like what do you think
about the housing market right now and
you said you hope to own a home but like
yeah what do you think about the steps
to get there it's diabolical like I I
think like the the amount like basically
like we live in a world now where you
can't work on things that you're
passionate about if you to live
sustainably and so we're we're like
entrenching depression and apathy into
the future generation because like if
you want to own a own a home you have to
go financial industry you have to go
corporate world Etc that's the only way
or it's not the only way but it's like
the most sustainable way Etc but that
means that now um we're we're we're
favoring the like Financial private
sectors um because it's only through
like cosigning them through working with
them through offering them human capital
that were're able to like like actually
just live
comfortably so that that I think that's
really bad I think
landlord too many andols
on know too many people who have had
like terrible housing situations evicted
reason yes it's not good so yeah more
more controls need yeah so also in terms
of public resources like what are the
main ones that you think we need to kind
of address right
now public resources NHS like we're
prioritizing that much too quickly much
too comfortably for my the government
needs to intervene and we need to
protect it if we look at France for
example to me France has the best
understanding of how to manage that like
because France is a constitutional
republic they have lequ socio what it to
is social conquests um b means like
there certain things that the public
feel that they have like conquered and
have an entrenched right to and it's in
the Constitution that the government is
not allowed to tamper with these things
um because of the people's
constitutional right to that and that's
why the French are always protesting
like just find it so interesting because
in the UK you see young people all the
time saying oh we need to be more like
the French we need to protest they don't
understand what that means like the
French aren't just protesting because
they're angry they're protesting because
it's in law that they have things and so
when the government takes away those
things they actually like is
constitutionally there that they have to
fight it whereas we don't have such a
social contracts here we don't have a
right to certain things entrenched in
our law and therefore like the
government feels far too comfortable
taking things away from us like NHS is
the main thing to me like right we we
can't lose that we need better the
history of like Council states in the UK
is
like um
like governments on the the history of
governments on both sides both labor and
the conservative they've messed up like
horribly and I feel like is like when
grenfell happened it was kind of the the
funeral of public housing the public
like when when grandell fell um it's
like all it's been a it's been seven
years today right yeah seven years so
even that is a massive Milestone to
basically say public um is not working
anymore um as soon as we had the the
right to buy law that maret introduced
that just privatized all of it um but
then it really just like um it just
meant that there were less public houses
available and that's really affected the
housing market now so yeah yeah I I
think there's a few things but to me
housing and the
NH yeah that's that's interesting said
actually every school even private
schools are like
so yeah
school's I think yeah I think you kind
of touched on even the second question
um so the second question is what
changes would you like to happen to have
a better life so you already touched on
like housing and um healthare and
schools but yeah can you I guess you
were going to touch on schools a bit
more can you kind of DW into that a bit
more like universities and yeah all of
that even universities like heavily
private like h
I think that we need to like so every
university has careers option
universities most universities actually
do quite well in helping students with
careers however what I feel that they
could do better is offering diverse
array of options and actually
understanding like what we actually need
to prep are like the adaptable skills to
just apply for work in general as
opposed to saying work for this industry
because what's happening right now is
that different organizations are
targeting different universities and the
financial services are the ones that are
targeting them most so it's like someone
like me for example who I went to
University thinking I'm creative I'm
thinking I'm gonna come out I've gone in
and I'm seeing consulting company here
financial company here money money like
I'm just seeing okay that that's the
service I'm gonna go into and
I I don't like I
shouldn't so I think that's one thing
like schools and un should just give
people more like skills to be adaptable
in regards to what you should be able to
study and go into Finance or study
economics and become a writer or like
know freelance job roles that are
available to you or learn to be an
entrepreneur we don't need to spoon feed
like we don't need to spoon feed people
but we just need to them to know how to
look you know is that phrase teach him
fish and he will be a life whatever like
that's need yeah next in regards to
schools that yeah they just need to be
better equipped um no resources the
classroom sizes are too full so the kids
can't even concentrate
um there's just too much of everything
in schools too much and too little too
too many distractions too many problems
but too
little um yeah teachers aren't able to
control Behavior like that so we we just
need a better approach to schools
lessies what doing in schools I think is
horrible like um really yeah like I went
I went to Academy what school what what
kind of school was you on I went to an
academy as well so the problem toies is
that so academies are public schools
that are allowed to be treated like
businesses so but like so my secondary
school for example made a like they they
made a regular turnover of about 6
million a year um as a school really
yeah and like a lot of the way they make
that money is through students um and
you can look into this so like acmy have
the right to this thing called manage
move because you know each student that
comes into a school has a like sum of
money attached to them
um and so how the manag move system
works is that like schools will
purposely like exclude children to other
schools and basically trade the children
for like a lum like a sum of cash and so
when it got to 11 we just had mad like
random guys joining our year um towards
the end it's like we're in year 11 now
why are these guys joining they've just
joined from really bad schools and
they're not even allow like circulate
with the rest of the students and you
realize the manage M system um and so
that really affects behaviors because
students are treated like Commodities
rather than actual students um and that
really affects their ability to learn um
mhm yes like Yeah I wanted to um sorry
oh wait no you finished
you um yeah cuz I wanted to go back you
were saying about Goldman Sachs and you
mentioned how like you were in
University and obviously your passion is
writing but then you looked and you saw
consultancy you saw Finance so what kind
of what was going on in your life or in
society that you felt like you had to
leave not leave writing behind but you
had to prioritize getting the money by
working for Golden sex but say that oh
what was happening in my life that made
me wonder yeah or or Society or like
yeah how yeah exactly like what was
having in society that you felt you
needed to kind of make that shift into
the finance space rather than following
your passion or your
[Music]
dream I'm just thinking no of course
yeah uh I think it was just the pressure
of like okay cool
um there's certain there's certain
images or standards that I need to
achieve compared to my peers like all of
my peers are working corporate I think
the simple answer is like I was just
comparing myself to my PE um trying to
make sure that compared to them um I was
yeah I was I was achieving and I was
getting stuff so I guess one thing is
image um but in terms of my own life it
is also just like pressures okay like MH
the only way that I can
get the yeah the only way that I can um
that I
can secure my
future is by going into the financial
services because either I get into the
financial services stay there for the
rest of my life and that's it I'm or I
work in the financial services and it
looks great into my CV and I can do
whatever I like so it's one of those two
options which is the you feel like that
do you feel like that is kind of what is
happened now so like you you've done
Goldman saxs you've left now and you
feel like it being there you're kind of
set yeah yeah I think so um that's
cool yeah also my family like from them
like like the creative stuff like I know
that I could do it and I could do it
well but they don't know they like
they're not going to believe so I guess
it was just even though you wrote a book
at 15
yeah but like you know what it is like
the book is just the book but like what
about actual career what about actually
being able to like afford like a family
home for myself what about being able to
like afford a wedding Etc like what's
sustainable like yeah like they know I'm
talented but they don't necessarily
understand the the business side of the
creative world so like to them it's like
they're not going to be happy with me
just saying I'm G to be a full-time
creative so
yeah I hear that I hear that cool um how
are you involved in making decisions
about what matters to you how
I what so that can be um like how you
spend your time your free time public
spaces I know you're involved in like
the community spaces with like your less
talking Etc so you can touch on stuff
like that as well yeah yeah that's
interesting cuz when when you ask this
question like my first my mind
specifically goes to like public
infrastructure um pardon me um and how
my question to myself is how do I get
involved within the Democratic process
to get my I guess like the simple answer
obviously going to be voting um it's
going to
be um I guess like when you pay your
taxes like that's being part of the
democratic process you don't necessarily
always have a choice of where that goes
which I have a big problem with but
tou and what other Democratic processes
do I have uh do I do I engage with
um I feel like voting is the main one
there are Community spaces so I'm also a
member of the labor party um okay okay I
guess decisions that are make made on a
hyper local level um I'm involed in So
within Edmonton um discussions
especially as it pertains to young
people and or
I'm vocal about um those are some
things yeah so I guess those main ways
that I
partake then outside of that I have my
own um event series called less talking
um the purpose of less talking is
actually supposed to mirror the ideal
social contract um okay quot that I
really love um from a philosopher called
Jean jaac Russo
um I always get it wrong and I used to
know this but Bas he says what like once
some once a man looks at the state say
like none of this anything the state is
doing has anything to do in my life then
the state has swen into disrepute um the
whole purpose of that is that like we
should be able to look at the world look
at our public infrastructure and just
understand that that public
infrastructure works for our benefit and
if we see that it is working for our
benefit then something's wrong um and so
the way less talking works is like I'm
always putting the participants and the
audience at the Forefront of the event
so it's like when they come into the
space they don't realize it yet but it's
actually them who are in control rather
than like me right okay and because of
how Democratic is I'm encouraging people
to partake in society more actively
and like understand the problems of the
world that they're living in and address
them um so we do that way sometimes it
will just be like I'll bring art art
I've done art has been a really
fantastic way of doing that there been
three different events now where I've
brought like visual art into the space
and I've told the audience like analyzed
art tell me what you see um and through
them analyzing and through them taking
control they more able to like you know
C Level of dominance over the space
that's how Society should be we should
be able to speak towards like local
politicians our MPS and be able to tell
them what we want how we want them to
represent us um less talking is one way
and by encourag typ of discussion I
guess I'm also shaping The Narrative of
like young people's understand of policy
in the future um right so yeah in some
way
um I also have an event series called
the book well it's not even an event
series there's a creative agency I think
I've seen that but the books stem the
books stem yeah yeah that's so cool yeah
so
that's a workshop series that I run with
my friend um form with and the whole
purpose that is to make literature more
accept accessible um and black
literature specifically but by doing so
and by giving young people the third
space facilities to engage creativity
and topress that's another way in which
we shaping The
Narrative Blackness around the identity
um and that turns into advocacy work
because like by giving young people the
ability to express themselves we're
putting them on that platforms where
they can actually speak to people of
power speak to people that can actually
offer them the resources to thrive um
and we're helping them to connect with
those and actually shape those opportun
for themselves um I love that so much
main answers pardon yes and no I love
that so much that's like important work
that we need for youth leadership and
like hug voice yeah cool I have I have
one last question um if you could give a
message to the current government or the
people in power what would that message
be I think I think that like the the the
philosophy of party lines has eroded
fabric of our democracy um I feel like
the fact that we can now like I know
that if I vote for my mp right now they
will vote in Parliament to protect their
job rather than to protect my interests
um so it's
like I'm trying to think of the most
neutral policy ever like okay let's look
at historic example which one that's
everyone will agree on the example like
the Maj of the British public opposed
Iraq did not believe that moral for the
for for Britain's government to
intervene in Iraq and yet um and yet the
the the government of that day
especially the government voted impunity
to allow our soldiers to enter another
um and is like despite the fact that the
public opposed it our voted on behalf of
that um and so and it's like the fact
that we know that our politicians don't
vote within our interest they don't
listen to our needs they're not actually
trying to solve our problems shows us
they're not working for us so my main
them would be work for our interest you
we are pay salary our taxes fund work
for us listen to us what we ask you to
do rather than that's it that's what I
would say I think that's a powerful
message yeah yeah what were we say sorry
no I said Thank you thank you yeah no
thank you so much