(WTOP/Neal Augenstein)
The photo above is from a temporary art installation in Washington, DC called “In America How Could This Happen…” The artist Suzanne Brennan Firstenberg invited family and friends of people who died from COVID-19 to join her in planting small white flags representing those people. By the end of the two week installation, in which the public is also invited to participate, they are expected to plant around 240,000 flags. In a recent article from WTOP, the artist expressed her motive behind the exhibit:
“I hope this will bring us together, in this time of ridiculous divisiveness,” she said. “To not only think about our pain, but also really think about the pain other people are going through.”
She added, “If we can’t unite over this, then really, who are we as Americans? This is our collective grief.”
That pain and collective grief was also expressed by Dr. Ngozi Ezike the top health official in Illinois as she cried during a new conference where she was giving a report about COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in her state. This brought a humanizing moment to the reporting of numbers that can seem so overwhelming and impersonal. A short video of that new conference is posted below: