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| Source: BBC.com |
By Sam Piha
Dolly Parton grew up in abject poverty, raised in a one-bedroom log cabin alongside 11 siblings. After her passing we learned a lot about Miss Parton that we didn’t know before. One of her amazing feats was her ability to express strong beliefs that seemed to oppose her fanbase, without causing blowback.
“Even though she avoided partisan politics, Parton was never apolitical - speaking about subjects including women's rights, LGBTQ equality and Black Lives Matter. With a fanbase that included grandmas and Gen-Zers, Republicans and Democrats, drag queens and evangelicals, Parton was a kind of unicorn in America's polarized society. ‘Dollitics’, a phrase coined by the singer's nephew to describe her way of handling thorny political subjects. ‘She wants all boats to rise.’" [1]
"I think of myself more as a diplomat. That's the kind of people who tell you to go to hell in such a way you look forward to the trip." - Dolly Parton
"’She has always been a model for women, carving your own path, looking out for yourself, making sure that you retain the rights to your intellectual property, looking out for your own financial and creative independence,’ Phillips told the BBC. ‘And if that's not feminism, I don't know what is.’" [2]
"I respect anybody's beliefs and the fact that they're willing to stand up for whatever it is. But I'm also the kind of person that if I don't like where you got it, I can tell you where to put it." - Dolly Parton
“In 1980, she made her film debut in 9 to 5, a dark satire about women's rights in the workplace helped by Jane Fonda. Fonda was persona non- grata in many parts of the country for her anti-Vietnam War activism.
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| Source:BBC.com |
But Parton refused to distance herself from Fonda just to appease her more conservative fans. She said: ‘I respect anybody's beliefs and the fact that they're willing to stand up for whatever it is. But I'm also the kind of person that if I don't like where you got it, I can tell you where to put it.’" [3]
Dolly Parton was also an active philanthropist- like her Imagination Library, which sent free books to children around the world- a project dear to our heart as we have worked to promote youth led book drives to collect and distribute children’s books and promoted the benefits of Reading Buddies. (See past blogs on Reading Buddies here.)
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| Source:BBC.com |
[1] Robin Levinson-King and Sheila Flynn, Dolly Parton was the one thing most Americans could agree on
[3] IBID.
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