Election day is one week away, but the election and politics have weighed heavily on SMU senior Anna Kelley Zielke's mind for years.
"I got really interested in political polarization after going on an honors abroad trip and meeting with people and having these really amazing intellectual and political conversations," Zielke said. "There are so many benefits to interact with people that you disagree with, that I found that I wanted to share that with other people."
So Zielke, a dance performance and political science double major, did some focus group research.
"People talked about how political conversations had ruined family relationships. I had some people talk about how they don't speak to a certain side of their family or a friendship that they don't speak to anymore, and the cost of that," Zielke said. "I think I really meditated on the cost of the broken relationships our divisive political environment is having."
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She decided to write a children's book to help bridge the political divide. Instead of Republicans and Democrats fighting, her book has a cat and a dog who, because of a monster named 'Malarkey', fight like cats and dogs.
"I don't necessarily have that experience of knowing what it feels like to NOT know what it feels like to not be in this really tense environment, but I do have a personal experience of navigating it with somebody. Like yeah, we're able to navigate this. How can we do this as a society," Zielke said.
Zielke thought a children's book was a good way to teach that lesson across generations.
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"I think that the great part of the story is they realize that they're grateful for each other and their friendship, and so they start tearing down that wall," Zielke said, explaining how her characters Max the dog and Ella the cat find their way back to friendship. "I think that teaching our kids young that, you know, if you interact with someone you disagree with and you have a bit of conflict; your ability to navigate that is an important life skill."
That's a good lesson at any age.
"330 million people in this country and were all very, very different from each other," Zielke said. "That's a beautiful thing!"
Zielke and fellow SMU student illustrator Anastasiya Shyvilka are in the final edits of the book, which has yet to be titled. They hope to find a publisher and get it on bookshelves soon.
