Senator Kennedy was a force of nature, a lion, an elegant street fighter for social justice. He touched many lives and changed the direction of our nation for the good in big and small, public and private ways. We celebrate his life and mourn his passing.

An amazing group of people came together to help launch MomsRising in 2006. One of those people was U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy. At a September 2006 film screening of the Motherhood Manifesto, Senator Kennedy started off by sharing his thanks to all in the room and across the nation who were building the grassroots force of mothers, and noted, “We have a track record of achievement and success on a number of issues, but this one, with regards to mothers and children, is really a defining issue in terms of our country, our society, our humanity, and our decency.”

Senator Kennedy also shared that his wife, while a partner at a law firm, struggled with being measured differently than male partners, and told this story: Whenever Victoria went out of the office to attend one of her children’s games, the other partners would say, “She isn’t a serious lawyer.” But with dads, they’d say, “Isn’t he a wonderful father.”

Senator Kennedy “got” what the three-quarters of mothers who are in the labor force are facing and went on to say, “This permeates law firms and professional organizations all over this country. It’s an attitude, an atmosphere, and a climate that needs to be altered, and changed, and adjusted."

On that fall day in 2006, Senator Kennedy also shared another personal story about when his son, Teddy, was twelve and battling cancer: For two years, Senator Kennedy regularly went to Boston to be with his son while his son was receiving chemotherapy. Senator Kennedy noted his sadness that it’s taking our society so long to recognize the enormously important principle that parents need to be with sick children, but that so many of those parents can’t take that time because they also have to support their family by working full-time.

It’s not surprising then that for the past several years, Senator Kennedy has been a champion for the Healthy Families Act, which allows employees to earn paid sick days to care for themselves or their children.

Serving in the U.S. Senate for more than 40 years, Senator Kennedy led historic fights for women and families.  His force of conviction helped pass many important legislative advances, including: The Pregnancy Discrimination Act; The Civil Rights Restoration Act; The Voting Rights Act of 1965; The Family Medical Leave Act; The Civil Rights Act of 1991; The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act; the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP); the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and much more. His legacy lives on as we continue the fight for mothers and children.

Thank you, Senator Kennedy. We’re lucky you served our nation.

*You can watch a video of his speech at the MomsRising launch here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jj4J7do10OA