What's Noisy Business?

​The brainchild of best friends and frequent chatty patties, Erène Bennett and Haaniyah Awale Angus, Noisy Business is a bimonthly roundtable series born out of our desire to bring the digital world offline.

​We don’t think that Noisy alone can fix the gaping issues within cultural commentary, but we do believe that conversations with one another in real life are a necessary first step. Erène and I often talk about various discourses, revelling in how communicating in person can make our disagreements, frustrations, and complex beliefs (read: complex, not bigoted) about topics such as feminism, AI, body image, film criticism, and grief so much easier to navigate.

​And how are we doing this?

​We want to curate these same conversations in public, with a small, select audience, panellists we have long admired, and an open Q&A format to turn our online discourse into real-life action, or at least, a fun 45-50 minute break from our phones.

​Our first roundtable will centre on "thought daughters" and misogynoir.

​A thought daughter is "an aesthetic largely based on niche memes on Pinterest that describe a persona of an intelligent, sophisticated young woman, likely in her twenties," aka women who read, write, yap, and, as FKA Twigs once said, attempt to fill up the ever-growing vacuum of thinkers in an age of misinformation. On TikTok, these women are often accused of performativity and, as such, find themselves on a tightrope, revered for their intellect whilst just as quickly facing the brunt of being young, vocal and online.

​In particular, what does this look like when thinking of young Black women who find success through their online visibility but quickly realise that the price they pay for being so visible can often lead to increased harassment, racism and dismissal of said knowledge?

​That's the question we've asked our roundtable, made up of writer Shaniya Odulawa, journalist Habiba Katsha, and archivist Naz Hamdi. All of whom are incredible Black writers who have spoken on the growing pressure of choosing between your authenticity and having to perform for audiences built on heralding you as a genius to the point of dehumanisation.

​The answer? Well, you're gonna have to join us to find out. See you there!