See Anohni’s Stark ‘Obama’ Video, Plea for Chelsea Manning Release
Anohni released a chilling video for “Obama,” the latest in a series of similarly-styled clips promoting her recent LP, Hopelessness. In a statement accompanying the video, Anohni implored President Obama to release Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning, who is currently serving a 35-year sentence from leaking classified documents in 2010.
The four-minute visual is broken into two halves: The first focuses on a woman standing against a white background and staring straight into the camera; in the second, a different woman’s face slowly spins around the lens, as strobe light effects illuminate the darkness. The singer, who said she voted for Obama and campaigned for him throughout Europe, also begged the president to “recognize [Manning’s] tremendous sacrifice, and her vulnerability.”
“With Trump incoming, if you leave Chelsea in prison, she will never see the light of day, or worse,” she wrote. “If you leave Chelsea Manning in prison for whistle-blowing, you send the final message to our nation that the Obama administration brutally punished moral courage in these unforgiving United States.”
Calling Obama a “friend of the trans community,” she added that Manning has suffered enough. “Show us the heart of the Obama administration now,” she continued. “The election is over. There is no political advantage left in allowing Chelsea to perish in prison.”
Anohni recently released videos for “Hopelessness,” “Marrow,” “I Don’t Love You Anymore” (starring the singer herself), “Crisis” (starring Storm Lever) and “Drone Bomb Me” (starring Noami Campbell). Hopelessness, which features production from Hudson Mohawke and Oneohtrix Point Never, cracked Rolling Stone‘s 50 Best Albums of 2016 list.