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Tavis: Over the weekend we learned of the passing of soul music icon Isaac Hayes and award-winning comedian Bernie Mac. Both of their inspiring stories are symbols of the American dream. Isaac Hayes was born in a tin shack in Tennessee and raised by his grandparents following the death of his mother.

After winning a talent contest in the ninth grade, he chose music as his life's work, becoming a household name in the early '70s with the theme from the film "Shaft." That song would go on to earn both a Grammy and an Oscar. A later generation came to know Isaac Hayes as the voice of Chef on the hit series "South Park."

Just a few weeks ago I was actually in Memphis with a group of close friends, including Princeton Professor Cornel West and comedian Dick Gregory. We met with Isaac Hayes at the famed Stax Records building for a three-hour conversation. That'll be part of a feature documentary about our trip, due out next year.

As fate would have it, that recorded conversation would be his last. Isaac Hayes died yesterday in Memphis at the age of 65.

On Saturday came the shocking news that Bernie Mac passed away at just 50 years of age. He was raised on Chicago's South Side and like Isaac Hayes was forced to deal with the death of his mother at an early age. After seeing Bill Cosby on the "Ed Sullivan Show," Bernie Mac longed to become a comedian. Before breaking through, however, he struggled as a janitor, a mover, and a school bus driver, but Bernie Mac never gave up on comedy and of course went on to great success in stand-up, TV, and film, serving as the headliner for Spike Lee's groundbreaking documentary "The Original Kings of Comedy."

In 2001 he created the "Bernie Mac Show" for FOX, an unconventional hit series that earned him two Emmys and a Peabody Award. Tomorrow night, right here, we'll revisit our conversations with both Isaac Hayes and Bernie Mac.