I live in Tennessee, so my opinion of Dolly is definitely biased. She was and is a treasure. I think she understood something most people in positions of power and prestige do not: what you say matters little, what you do matters lots.

Could she have showed up on political stages? Sure. Could she wear a #I’mWithHer shirt? Yeah. Is she the kind of person who’s going to play moral trolley problem lesser of two evil games? Absolutely not.

Dolly came from a place where nobody gave a damn about her or anyone else, and they still don’t. So she decided she would. She decided to cut through it all to let kids know that someone cares about them and that kindness always wins.