With the death of Edward "Ted" Kennedy, the African-American community has lost one of its best friends in the Senate and a real ally on the national scene for years.

For more than four decades, the lion of the Senate was a critical and passionate voice for the Black community on a number of key issues, including: voters' rights, affirmative action, HIV/AIDS, and education reform. And in the last presidential election, he was an early and passionate supporter of then Sen. Barack Obama, giving him a key endorsement that helped lead to an Obama nomination and presidency.

"Senator Kennedy was a courageous leader for civil and human rights. He championed more civil rights initiatives than any other senator in U.S. history," said NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous.

The Ted Kennedy/African-American story began only four short months after the tragic assassination of his brother President John F. Kennedy. In April of 1964, the senator from Massachusetts rose to the Senate floor in his maiden speech before the body and pushed for the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. He said that his brother's heart and soul were in that bill and that its passage was central to the meaning of his life and death.

For the next four decades, he continued to push for the expansion of civil and voting rights for African Americans, pushing to end the dreaded poll tax in 1965, which had kept so many African Americans away from the polls in the South for generations. His legislative career also included the Voting Rights Amendment of 1982, which extended Black congressional representation in the Congress and in state legislatures across the country.

"His life and the legislation that he sponsored in the Senate made a real difference, changing all of our lives for the better," said Congressman Charles Rangel (D-NY).

And in 1998, he fought against a rollback of affirmative action that was gaining support in the Senate. And as recent as 2008 he was the key Senate sponsor of the Civil Rights Act of 2008, which was designed to counteract some of the recent Supreme Court decisions that have been passed by the conservative wing of the Court, which includes the only African American on the Court, Clarence Thomas.

In January of 2008, Kennedy made a stunning endorsement of Sen. Barack Obama at a rally at American University in Washington, D.C. Standing at his side was Caroline Kennedy, daughter of the late President Kennedy. He said, "It is time for a new generation of leadership [in America]." Kennedy went on to actively campaign for Obama until he suffered a seizure in May of last year.

At the center of Kennedy's politics were the rights and well-being of all the people of the United States. Starting in the 1960s, he also began an aggressive push for national health care for all Americans. And in May of 2008, he left his hospital bed, where he had been battling his brain tumor, to cast the deciding vote on the Senate floor, which would have authorized sharp cuts to doctors providing Medicare. His legislative achievements in this area resulted in millions of minority and low-income children receiving health care under the S-Chip legislation he championed and President Obama signed into legislation in February, after it had been vetoed by former President Bush just two years ago.

Kennedy encouraged President Obama to put broad health care reform at the top of his agenda, and even as he battled terminal brain cancer, he continued to work to make universal healthcare a reality since African Americans and other minorities are more likely to be among the more than 46 million people without any healthcare insurance.

Kennedy's battle with cancer forced him to take a lesser role in the health care debate, and many have argued that his absence has made President Obama's battle with the forces against a national healthcare initiative even more difficult.

Kennedy had the unique ability to get a number of Republicans to side with him on votes that they traditionally would have opposed.

Kennedy's death is expected to complicate the passage of a comprehensive health care bill. "Not having Teddy Kennedy around to lead and inspire is a difficult blow," said Congressman Rangel. His Massachusetts Senate seat could be in limbo for months to come because the current law in his state calls for a special election, which would be in January, rather than having an interim senator appointed by Gov. Deval Patrick. The law dates back to 2004 when the democratically controlled legislature passed the provision because they feared who then- Gov. Mitt Romney would appoint if John Kerry had defeated President Bush's reelection bid. Just last week, Kennedy sent a letter to the Massachusetts Legislature urging them to change the law so that Gov. Patrick could make an interim appointment. The request received a lukewarm initial reception.

Rangel and others in the political establishment are hoping that Kennedy's death will be an inspiration for initiatives he valiantly fought for.

"The best thing we can do is not just remember his legacy but to fight as hard as he would have for those things he most cared about. Maybe even harder. That's how we'll best remember this great man," said Rangel.