I was at work when we got the news. Four women discussing workplace drama at the manager’s desk abruptly stopped talking at the sound of the announcement on our country music radio.
Four women dug in their smock pockets for their phones, frantically looking online to disprove what we just heard. As the sound of ‘Jolene’ played in our ears in tribute to the fallen star, we all sank in dismay.
It was true. Dolly Parton passed away.
While the other three pivoted to talking about her music, all I could think was, “Damn. The world just got a little bit darker.”
Dolly Parton was a beautiful human being in this world, with a deeply charitable and kindly soul.
She was known as a philanthropist, one who gave freely to the causes that touched her heart and brought her sadness. She wanted to ease pain wherever she could.
Her charitable efforts ranged from children’s literacy — her donations brought books to low-income schools worldwide, providing options for kids to learn reading and writing across multiple countries — to medical research.
Heck, her funding helped pave the way for research during the Pandemic, and provided money to develop Moderna’s vaccine. As someone from a high-risk household who thankfully didn’t lose anyone, we’re deeply grateful to her for that.
Dolly’s donations helped displaced families as they struggled to survive natural disastors, providing relief after floods and hurricanes and fires. She donated to pediatric care hospitals to help kids suffering from illness get the care they need.
She funded scholarships, helped all of her Dollywood Foundation employees go through college debt-free, and generally threw money at every single problem she could.
Throughout her whole 80-year life, Dolly Parton has given away tens, if not hundreds of millions of dollars to charities, both the ones she founded and also in direct donations to various humanitarian causes around the world.
She might have been a billionaire if she hadn’t. But she never stopped giving.
Dolly was a titan of the music world, the Queen of Country, and a genuinely kind person. She was a staunch and fearless ally of the LGBTQ+ community, spoke about sex work like any other job without judgement, and generally fought to keep an attitude of compassion towards the people around her.
She was a progressive icon. Her voice has been pushing people in a wholesome direction for decades.
She will be sorely, deeply missed, especially right now.
I just hope her legacy is treated with the respect she deserves.
Rest in peace, Dolly. I hope we manage to keep your work alive. I hope you and your husband are together again, and may you never be parted.
Solidarity wins.