Across the political and cultural breadth of the United States, there was a pause in the downward spiral of political, cultural, and even physical warfare enveloping our land. It happened when Dolly Parton died, on Aug. 25, 2026, at age 80, after a brief battle with cancer.

I felt it. I still feel it. Maybe you did too.

For a moment, it was a quieter, less chaotic place — the eye of a storm. The onrushing avalanche stilled, briefly. A moment of silent reflection in which all voices, including one’s own, were calmed.

It helps to trace a few of the many crossroads of working-class life Parton traversed, to get a sense of the symbolic, iconic scale of that pause. Her reach was so wide and so broad that it produced what felt like a “ceasefire” — a whisper heard around the world.

First, she connected with the American labor movement through the unprecedented and never-surpassed hit film 9 to 5, and through the iconic anthem of the same name she wrote and performed for the rest of her life. The film and song were inspired by 9to5, the real-life working women’s organization founded in Boston in the early 1970s to fight for fair pay, equal advancement, and an end to sexual harassment for female office workers. Parton starred in the 1980 film alongside Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin. She earned deep respect from labor unions for consistently centering the dignity of working people in her music.

Second, Parton consistently spoke out against racism and expressed support for racial justice, including the Black Lives Matter movement. Her Imagination Library highlights her long record of bridging racial and cultural gaps through her career and philanthropy, having provided millions of books to children of diverse backgrounds. She invested repeatedly in her home state and broader communities, building a reputation for inclusivity that crossed racial lines. The King Center honored her with the Christine King Farris “Legacy of Service in Education” Award during its Beloved Community Awards, where Dr. Bernice King said that both her father and Parton used their platforms — his through the civil rights movement, hers through the Imagination Library — to champion human dignity and uplift the marginalized. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee declared Jan. 19, 2026, Dolly Parton Day, marking her 80th birthday alongside the state’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day observances that same year.

Third, Parton was outspoken in support of LGBTQ rights throughout her life. In 1991, during the AIDS crisis, she released “Family,” a song embracing love across differences. She also wrote the Oscar-nominated “Travelin’ Thru” for the 2005 film Transamerica.

Fourth, tributes from the socialist and communist left have been nearly universal. The Democratic Socialists of America praised her as a working-class hero who kept faith with ordinary people despite avoiding formal political labels. She declined honors offered by both Presidents Biden and Trump. Working-class themes ran through her art from the start. The Communist Party USA said she used her wealth and platform to support people left behind by society. The South African Communist Party issued its own tribute. Political figures across the spectrum honored her legacy, and “Dolly Fests” are being planned in Europe and elsewhere.

Fifth, on the business side, Kiplinger devised a new term, “wisdom wealth,” to describe Parton’s legacy.

Finally, Trump called her “one of a kind” — for him, more a wish than a commendation.

A rare point of political convergence: socialists, communists, Democrats, Republicans, conservatives, and liberals all praised her — all the labels she shunned. Her Christianity is honored by Muslims, Jews, Catholics, Protestants, Buddhists, Hindus, and atheists alike. But “Christian” and “humanitarian” were the labels she claimed for herself.

There is a lesson here. In Dolly’s world, both “Democratic” and “Republican” are shunned, but labor and working people of every race, gender, nationality, and age are welcomed. That looks like the arms and legs of a new working-class majority to me. It does not yet have a name. But it is looking for one.

Maybe new labels are needed, too. Lasting political change does not happen without parties and labels — they are part of how different social groups learn to talk to each other and understand each other, or fail to. Understanding chattel slavery and understanding modern capitalism both lead to the same conclusion: neither is compatible with a democratic republic.

When old labels break down, they are replaced. The Whigs and the Democratic-Republicans became the Democrats and the Republicans, and each of those parties has since gone through several turnovers of its leading coalitions and institutions as U.S. capitalism’s long rise and dominance evolved in turn.

This is a time when the old labels are not working. Conflict and violence are spreading, as is poverty in our land. Dolly’s unlabeled voice speaks to me: Something new needs to be born.

I have a label: communist. Dolly was not one, as far as I know. But I have learned something from her in the past week, contemplating her spirit. I plan to be a more Dolly-like communist.

I’m here, Dolly. Keep talking.

The opinions of the author do not necessarily reflect the positions of the CPUSA.

Image: Dolly Parton and husband Carl Dean by A. Davey. CC BY 2.0.