(NNPA)—Music and laughter have always had the power to bond us together in ways that transcend race, politics and ideology.

Music icon Isaac Hayes and actor-comedian Bernie Mac, did just that. Together, they managed to touch the hearts and souls of people from all walks of life and all corners of the globe. Both men, in their own unique ways, broke new ground in popular culture. Each, for a different generation, opened a window to the Black experience that attracted worldwide attention.

It was ironic that Mac and Hayes died one day apart, Aug. 9 and 10, while filming the movie, “Soul Men.” The movie’s title was inspired by the song, “Soul Man,”’ an Isaac Hayes classic composition that became a hit record in the ’60s.

While they came from different generations and different parts of the country—Hayes from Covington, Tenn., and Mac from the south side of Chicago—both men sprang from working class roots and infused their artistry with bittersweet echoes of growing up poor and Black in America.

African-Americans in the 1970s avidly embraced the ground breaking soul sounds of Isaac Hayes. With his bald head, deep bass voice and chain-draped bare chest, Isaac was the perfect music accompaniment to “Shaft,” the first Black movie action hero. He and his music ignited a renewed sense of pride in the African-American community and helped an entire generation of Blacks and Whites find common ground on the dance floor. Isaac Hayes’ compositions like “Soul Man’’ and “Hold on I’m Coming,’’ and albums like “The Theme from Shaft” earned him both a Grammy and an Oscar in 1971.

Bernie Mac earned the respect of Americans across the country through “The Original Kings of Comedy” road show and movie in 2000 and a growing list of TV and movie roles, including his “keeping it real America” portrayal of Uncle Bernie on the award-winning “Bernie Mac Show.” For a 21st century audience, he turned the image of the irresponsible, absentee Black father on its head as Uncle Bernie on his TV show. After decades of shows like “Leave it to Beaver,” “the Brady Bunch,” and even, “The Cosby Show,” along comes a Black father figure who dishes out what so many of us really experienced growing up—a saucy serving of politically incorrect parental discipline smothered in deep love. Bernie was able to show parents in America that it was okay not to always say it right as long as you always did the right thing.

Raised by a single mother who died when he was 16, in real life Bernie Mac was the consummate father and family man. Samuel L. Jackson, his co-star in the movie “Soul Men,” said of Bernie, “He was always that kid from Chicago who wanted to make everybody happy and everybody laugh.”

Isaac Hayes and Bernie Mac were two extraordinary soul men who taught us valuable lessons while making us happy and making us laugh. They will be missed.

(Marc H. Morial is president and CEO of the National Urban League.)