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From September 17-October 1, Suzanne Brennan Firstenberg created the largest participatory art installation on the Washington National Mall since the AIDS quilt of 1996, entitled \u2018In America: Remember,\u2019 composed of 700,000 white flags, in the shadow of the Washington Monument. A stunning achievement. Listen to her reflections on listening to those among the 16,000 who personalized a flag to memorialize their loss. \u201cSo many of these deaths happened in isolation.\u201d The project unfolded amid our bitter divisions: \u201c We are tearing ourselves apart as a society.\u201d 35,000 died unnecessarily over the two-week course of the installation. Remarkably, though, she succeeded in creating a solemn, quiet, respectful space where it was \u201csafe to bring one\u2019s grief\u201d and escape our politics. Does this memorial create a lasting constituency that will press for a national commission? Any memorialization has to include an in-depth examination of what happened.\nSuzanne Brennan Firstenberg is an artist based in Bethesda Maryland.