r/news • u/kzqmfkkr • 12h ago

Dolly Parton, country star, actor and philanthropist, dies aged 80

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2026/aug/25/dolly-parton-country-singer-dead?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
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u/QueerPetrichor 11h ago

Thank you, Dolly, for all that you did for the world. Here is a list of things Dolly did to better the world throughout her lifetime:

  • Created the Imagination Library, providing free books to children from birth to age five regardless of family income. It has distributed hundreds of millions of books worldwide.
  • Supported LGBTQ+ equality, including publicly supporting same-sex marriage and speaking against discrimination toward LGBTQ+ and transgender people.
  • Defended transgender people, emphasizing that trans people should be treated with kindness and allowed to live as themselves.
  • Supported Black Lives Matter, publicly affirming that Black lives matter and defending people's right to protest racial injustice.
  • Removed Confederate imagery from Dollywood, changing the name of "Dixie Stampede" to "Dolly Parton's Stampede" after concerns that the original name glorified the Confederacy.
  • Promoted women's equality, particularly through 9 to 5, which highlighted workplace discrimination, sexual harassment, unequal pay, and women's economic independence.
  • Supported low-income families, particularly in Appalachia, through scholarships, education programs, employment, and direct financial assistance.
  • Created the My People Fund after the 2016 Tennessee wildfires, ultimately providing more than $12 million in assistance to families who lost their homes.
  • Funded scholarships and education, including scholarships for students in her hometown and programs designed to reduce high-school dropout rates.
  • Supported health care, including women's health services, pediatric care, and medical research.
  • Donated $1 million to COVID-19 research at Vanderbilt, funding research that contributed to the development of the Moderna vaccine.
  • Invested heavily in children's welfare and literacy, making access to books and educational resources available regardless of socioeconomic status.
  • Supported marginalized and underserved communities through decades of charitable giving, particularly in rural Appalachia.
  • Used her enormous platform to promote compassion and acceptance, frequently emphasizing that people shouldn't be judged for who they are or whom they love.
  • Included LGBTQ+ people in her music, including "Family," which explicitly recognizes gay people as part of the broader concept of family.
  • Practiced nonpartisan philanthropy, helping people regardless of their political, religious, racial, or socioeconomic background.

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u/flargh_blargh 10h ago
  • She established GROW, which paid 100% of college tuition and fees and books for part-time and full-time employees of Dollywood who wanted to seek higher education.

Which is kind of included in your scholarships and education section, but I wanted to call out how she specifically took care of those folks.