By Gary Johnson – Founder & Publisher, Black Men In America.com

Music icon Dolly Parton died on August 25, 2026, after a brief battle with cancer. She was 80 years old.

One may ask, why is the founder of Black Men In America.com writing a column about Dolly Parton? The short answer is simple: because Dolly Parton came off as that person who belonged to all of us. She was that rare celebrity who appealed to people across generations, race, gender, politics, class and geography.

In the divided and polarized country that we live in today, Dolly Parton brought people together. And Black America was part of an extraordinarily broad coalition of people who saw something genuine in Dolly Parton.

What you saw was what you got—WYSIWYG.

The big hair. The rhinestones. The unmistakable voice. The humor. The thick country accent. The business savvy. The faith. The philanthropy. And her willingness to laugh at herself before anybody else got the opportunity made her authentically Dolly.

But underneath all of that appeared something else—humanity.Dolly Parton seemed to understand that being blessed created an obligation to bless somebody else. And she did it repeatedly, often without making herself the center of the story.

Dolly and Politics

Dolly Parton resisted being defined by partisan politics. That doesn’t mean she didn’t have opinions. She did. She kept her political opinions to herself. She was determined not to allow political divisions to define her relationship with people.

She twice declined offers of the Presidential Medal of Freedom from the Trump administration—once because her husband was ill and again because she would not travel during COVID. She later expressed reservations about accepting the honor because she didn’t want it interpreted as a political statement.

Yet when circumstances called for her to speak, Dolly spoke loud and clear.

During the national protests following the death of George Floyd in 2020, Dolly Parton expressed support for the Black Lives Matter movement. She said: “And of course Black lives matter. Do we think our little white asses are the only ones that matter? No!”

Dolly Parton and Black America

There is another reason I’m writing about Dolly Parton on Black Men In America.com. She had a long and interesting relationship with Black artists and Black audiences. Perhaps one of the most telling stories involves Whitney Houston. Dolly wrote and originally recorded “I Will Always Love You” in 1973. Nearly two decades later, Whitney Houston transformed the song into one of the biggest recordings in music history.

Houston’s version didn’t diminish Dolly’s original. It elevated the song into another universe—and Dolly wasn’t mad at her or throwing shade.  She celebrated it.

She invested some of the royalties she earned from Whitney’s recording into a commercial complex in a predominantly Black Nashville neighborhood. She affectionately referred to the investment as “the house that Whitney built.”

Think about that for a moment. A White country singer from the mountains of East Tennessee writes a song. Years later, one of the greatest Black vocalists of all time takes that song and makes it her own. The songwriter reportedly earned about $10 million dollars, and some of that money ultimately finds its way into a Black Nashville neighborhood. That’s a great story.

Decades later, Dolly publicly welcomed Beyoncé’s move into country music and her reinterpretation of “Jolene.” Once again, Dolly didn’t appear threatened by another artist taking something she created and doing something different with it.

She celebrated it. There’s a pattern about this woman—she puts her money where heart is.

Her Imagination Library grew from a program serving children in her home county in Tennessee into an international literacy initiative that has distributed hundreds of millions of books to children. Think about the impact of putting a book into the hands of a child who might not otherwise have one.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Dolly donated $1 million to COVID-19 research at Vanderbilt University. That funding supported research that contributed to the development of the Moderna vaccine.

A country singer helped fund vaccine research that would eventually affect millions of lives around the world. Again, there’s that pattern of Dolly Parton putting her money where heart is.

Black America Says Goodbye

Since Dolly Parton’s death, something else has been telling but when I think about her legacy, the outpouring of people mourning her is not surprising. However, I have to admit, I was surprised at the number of Black actors, singers, politicians, entertainers and everyday people, some of whom probably never owned a pair of cowboy boots and couldn’t name five country songs if their lives depended on it honoring Dolly Parton on social media.

That’s what made Dolly different. Black America wasn’t separate from Dolly Parton’s audience. We were part of an extraordinarily broad coalition of people who saw something genuine in her.

Singer Jill Scott captured that affection beautifully, describing Dolly as someone who did everything—from movies and songwriting to business and charity—with sincerity, humor and what Scott called “unabashed foxiness.”

Former President Barack Obama noted the extraordinary arc of Dolly’s life—from being born in a one-room cabin to winning Grammys, building a business empire, helping millions of children learn to read and contributing to research that helped produce a COVID vaccine.

Actress Viola Davis remembered her as a force of compassion, altruism, authenticity, artistry and love. And actor Colman Domingo may have summarized Dolly’s legacy best: “Dolly taught us that you can be anything and do anything and to do it with kindness.”

That’s it. Kindness. A word that sometimes feels hopelessly old-fashioned in today’s America.

The Lesson

Perhaps that’s the real reason I’m writing about Dolly Parton is that in a time when so many people build their identities around what separates us, Dolly Parton built hers around what connected us. She didn’t have to look like you. She didn’t have to vote like you. She didn’t have to live the life you lived. She simply seemed to understand that you mattered and people could feel it.

Dolly Parton spent a lifetime dressed in rhinestones, big hair, high heels and larger-than-life style. But beneath all of that was something remarkably simple: Talent. Authenticity. Humor. Generosity. Kindness. And an apparent belief that if you’ve been blessed, you ought to find a way to bless others.

Maybe that’s why so many Black folks loved Dolly. Maybe that’s why country folks loved Dolly. Maybe that’s why gay folks loved Dolly. Maybe that’s why Republicans loved Dolly. Maybe that’s why Democrats loved Dolly. Maybe that’s why young people who discovered her decades after “Jolene” loved Dolly.

My 10-year-old granddaughter was singing Dolly’s song “Jolene” today. I had to do a “double take.” People who couldn’t name a single Dolly Parton song somehow felt like they knew her.

At a time when America increasingly demands that we choose one side of the other, Dolly refused and perhaps that was one of her greatest accomplishments. Dolly Parton found a way to be her authentic self, without alienating you and yet still find some common ground.

That’s the model. We need more of that. She will be missed.

—Photo credit: Yahoo.com Entertainment

Gary Johnson is the Founder and Publisher of Black Men In America.com and Founder and Chief Creative Officer of Gary Johnson Media, LLC. A longtime trainer, seminar leader, consultant, media entrepreneur and storyteller, Gary uses digital media, podcasts and community engagement to inform, educate and amplify stories and perspectives that deserve to be heard.

He is the author of “25 Things That Really Matter In Life: A Quick and Comprehensive Guide to Making Your Life Better—Today!” and a contributing author to two books examining Black fatherhood. Gary is also an advocate for Black farmers and created Justice for Black Farmers to help document their experiences and continuing fight for justice.

At the heart of his work is a simple belief: today’s story can become tomorrow’s legacy.