"Adios Patria" released in 1997, explores the reasons why over a million Cubans have left their homeland since the 1959 revolution. It mixes poignant footage from the island with personal testimony from exiles and commentary by historians, politicians, and anti-Castro activists.

CORE, is a 64 year civil rights organization known for its 1960's demonstrations and the murder of three of its members as depicted in the movie “Mississippi Burning". Carl McGill is Assistant Western Regional Director of CORE and a candidate for the 35th California Congressional District, currently represented by Maxine Waters. To help raise funds for his candidacy, Mr. McGill is sponsoring weekly showings of "Adiós Patria" from Saturday, April 22 through Saturday, June 2, 2006. CORE seeks to raise awareness of the plight of balseros and the desperation that leads them to brave shark infested waters to seek freedom on America’s shores. They believe the false impression a large number of African Americans have of castro and Cuba would change if they knew the truth, that castro's Cuba is a racist apartheid society.

I viewed the documentary for the first time at yesterday's event. If you haven't seen the documentary it's worth hunting down a copy to view, it is a must see. It turns out Mr. McGill is from the same area in Connecticut as my husband, where we both lived for a number of years. When the event ended, Mr. McGill and I spent about an hour discussing a wide range of topics, including the old neighborhood, Cuba, and politics.

Carl McGill isn't your average politician seeking personal gain; he's a man on a mission to save his community from the devastating effects of decades of political misrepresentation, poverty and crime. He's a man who believes in personal sacrifice in order to do what's right. Currently running as a conservative democrat, this is not the first time he's taken on Ms. Waters. He ran against her on the Republican ticket back in 2000, and learned the hard way just how entrenched the Democratic Party is in the California's 35th Congressional District. Maxine Waters has never been challenged from within the Democratic Party. She has never faced an opponent in a primary, allowing her to easily defeat any Republican opponent in the general election. Carl McGill is a rock solid candidate, the real deal, a living example of the rewards of honesty, hard work and education.

Mr. McGill firmly believes that black leaders like Maxine Waters, Jesse Jackson, Al Shapton and Charles Rangel have betrayed their community. They promote a culture of violence, celebrating thugs who call their women "ho's", who have returned that abhorrent "N" word to popular jargon. Convicted criminals like "Tookie" are given hero status while hard working successful, educated, law abiding African Americans are denigrated. A defeat of Maxine Waters would carve a big chunk out of the Congressional Black Caucus members' current monopoly of African American politics. Imagine the impact of this change--the next time the LAPD arrests someone caught committing black on black crime, instead of Ms. Waters screaming racism and calling the police officers names and hinting of backlash/riots, Mr. McGill's media comment would support law enforcement and encourage adherence to law. Imagine the next time there's a vote on the Cuban Embargo and Mr. McGill passionately cites statistics on racism and apartheid in Cuba. What a difference one man could make given the chance.

Mr. McGill has roots in the Caribbean, and is a long time friend of the Cuban exile community. He traveled to Miami's Little Havana in 2000, to protest Maxine Waters' and the Congressional Black Caucus' support of fidel castro during the Elian affair.

Mr. McGill believes that fully informed educated voters will not support the Black Caucus or their friends, dictators fidel castro and hugo chavez.

Please support Carl McGill in his fight against Maxine Waters and the Congressional Black Caucus. Visit his website here.