Why Dolly Parton could bring together Americans who agree on almost nothing
Throughout her life, Dolly Parton kept reminding me of something beautiful about being human.Perhaps you noticed it too.Her death has brought an outpouring of affection from people who otherwise might agree on very little.And it leaves me wondering: What was it about Dolly? Talent alone doesn't explain it.
Success doesn't explain it.Even her extraordinary generosity doesn't fully explain it.DOLLY PARTON DIES AT THE AGE OF 80: A LOOK AT HER LIFE THROUGH PHOTOSI suspect we recognized something deeper — a way of being human that somehow enlarged the humanity around her.Many years ago, my friend Archbishop Desmond Tutu introduced me to an African word that has stayed with me ever since: Ubuntu.
It is often translated as "I am because we are."Over time, I have experienced Ubuntu less as a definition and more as a way of moving through the world.It is the quiet conviction that another person's life can become larger because you showed up.
It is the belief that another person's humanity matters too much to be reduced to a label, a failure, a fear, or someone else's judgment.Dolly Parton struck me as someone who intuitively Ubuntued her way through life.DOLLY PARTON'S ‘ALL-AMERICAN HEART’: HOW COUNTRY ICON FORGED SPECIAL BOND WITH US MILITARYIn an America increasingly divided into competing camps and tribes, she was one of our great exceptions.Conservatives admired her.
Liberals admired her.Christians admired her.
People with no religious affiliation admired her.Rural America admired her.
Urban America admired her.Dolly Parton is gone.But what we loved in her isn't.She seemed to delight in people.
She didn't require that people become more like her before she could enjoy them.Want to have some of what Dolly had? Lean into Ubuntu.Most of us know what it feels like to be reduced to a label, a mistake, a fear, or someone else's judgment.And most of us have encountered someone who refused to leave us there.Perhaps you've known someone who saw more in you than the l...