After Trump’s inauguration, ANOHNI was compelled to pull a series of books and records from her collection and deface them with the directive “DON’T CRY”. The command was issued to various subjects, depending on the nature of the media upon which it was painted.

The death of Bessie Smith's father when she was nine years old is sometimes sited as the source of her raw, soulful intensity. ANOHNI traces her desire to sing back to her childhood in England, when she first experienced of the forbidden and ecstatic emotions expressed by black American singers and their imitators.

Bessie Smith double LP with painted “DON’T CRY BLUE” across the two panels of the outer sleeve. Found in the garbage on 2nd venue in NYC in 1992, the deteriorating object contains 2 scratched vinyl plates. Also includes The Johnsons postcard (1998, edition of 100, photo by Don Felix Cervantes) entitled“Our Dreams Are Your Dreams”. Issued as a statement of intent, the card was mailed to artists downtown. Hand signed by ANOHNI, Johanna Constantine and Dr. Julia Yasuda in the year of it’s issue, with the trio asserting their “Americanness” in the tradition of Marsha P. Johnson, baring witness before the stars and stripes.