Twins Monica Sparks and Jessica Ann Tyson are identical in almost every way. The sisters running for local office in the US state of Michigan forged an unbreakable bond during a childhood tarred by abuse.
They wear the same white dress and even finish each other’s sentences.
Yet their choice of jewelry — a blue flower pin for Sparks, a red one for Tyson — gives away the one key thing separating the 46-year-old women: their political stripes. Sparks is a Democrat. Tyson is a Republican.
Photo: AFP
They said that they are proof positive that political differences can be overcome, even in an increasingly polarized US.
“It just baffles our mind why people hate each other,” Tyson said in a joint interview with her sister. “Mothers aren’t talking to sons. Fathers are disowning daughters.”
“We are not going to let this come between our family,” Sparks said.
Sparks and Tyson live in neighboring electoral districts in the Midwestern state — part of the country’s traditionally Democratic Rust Belt that, against all odds, helped US President Donald Trump win the election.
Each is campaigning for a seat on the governing board that oversees Kent County, which is home to 640,000 people and is the state’s second-most populous area, after Detroit.
The primary election is on Aug. 7. Sparks faces several Democratic rivals, while Tyson is running unopposed for the Republican nomination.
The twins said that they agree on broad ideas: They want to live a life of service and to reduce political discord, while the rest can be negotiated.
“We need to start finding common ground, period, if we’re going to get ahead as a society,” Sparks said.
They have been close all of their lives, relying on each other as children when they could not rely on adults, Sparks and Tyson said.
Born in 1972 to a heroin-addicted mother in the state capital Lansing, they were sent to a terrible foster home at the age of five.
Sparks said that they were abused “emotionally, physically, sexually,” and Tyson remembers her sister rummaging through trash cans looking for food.
“We went through a lot of abuse together, and together we got through,” Tyson said.
The girls eventually were adopted by loving parents, who instilled in them a sense of civic duty. As adults, they have volunteered for various causes, served on their school board and other local agencies, while running small businesses.
Now, they hope to serve in a formal political capacity.
Their bond was tested when Tyson endorsed the Republican running in Sparks’ district, instead of her own sister, but both said family and sisterhood come first.
“I celebrate her as a woman and all of the accomplishments that she has made, and no amount of winning or losing, or politics, will stop the love that I have for her,” Tyson said of her sister.
Even their disagreements over Trump have not endangered their bond — although his leadership is the subject of spirited debate.
Sparks cites the controversial reality television star-turned-leader as the cause of the country’s political tumult — and a key reason why she is seeking office.
“I just don’t like what’s happening in our country right now, and I can’t stand by. I’ve got to do something,” she said.
Tyson is a Trump supporter.
“I totally believe in our president,” she said, although she adds that she understands the concerns of those, including her sister, who oppose him.
The sisters said their respect for different viewpoints and ability to listen to others is something other Americans need to embrace in this political climate.
“People are hurt. People are bitter, because they are feeling disenfranchised,” Sparks said.
“You start by getting in the same room ... and come prepared with open ears, an open mind and open heart,” she said. “Then we will be able to find solutions.”
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was