BIOGRAPHY

Fidel Rodriguez is leading DIVINE FORCES MEDIA with the intent of raising consciousness and awareness through a mindful pragmatism based on indigenous cultural paradigms.  His education and expertise enable him in creating and facilitating trainings on culture, history, self-discipline and physical education.  His expertise ranges from radio production, concert and event programming to self awareness and discipline trainings focusing on “at risk” and “gang” involved youth and adults. 

Professionally, Fidel was the long-time producer for “Street Science with Dominique DiPrima”, the award-winning,  number one Arbitron rated talk show on Clear Channel’s 92.3 FM The Beat, for which he organized town hall meetings on a wide range of political and entertaining issues featuring youth, community activist, politicians, and artists coming together to engage in dialogue.  He then moved on to host his own show, award-winning and number one Arbitron rated “Seditious Beats” on The Beat for several years followed by a move to the indepenant public radio station, KPFK 90.7 FM, paret of the Pacifica network.  His show was called “Divine Forces Radio” a conscious hip hop radio talk show on the cutting edge of popular culture and trends. 

In addition, Fidel is a Human Relations Consultant and Violence Prevention Specialist for the County of Los Angeles’ Commission on Human Relation where he developed and facilitated a succesful rites of passage program at Homeboy Industries entitled “Spreading Seeds: Mind, Body, Spirit”.  He is also a consultant and trainer for the Los Angeles County Probation Department; City of Los Angeles Culture Affairs Department’s Youth Arts and Education; and the City of Los Angeles Human Relation Commission.  In addition, he continuously facilitates cultural, life skills, and hip hop radio production workshops with “at risk” youth ages 14 to 21 for various SEA charter schools, the City of Los Angeles Youth Opportunity Movement in Watts, and annual international students from various universities in Japan. 

Fidel currently is lead coordinator of Project One: One Love, One Mic, One Song, a youth program of the LA County Human Relations Commission (HRC) and non-profit Oneness, which collaborated to promote social justice through the creation of an eight member youth band called The Bricks.  The Bricks are produced by professional and Grammy award winning producers. Presently, Fidel is mentoring The Bricks and producing their debut album entitled This Land.  The Bricks album is slated for release in summer 2013 and the songs focus on eight human relations themes; violence against the homeless, sexism, xenophobia, homophobia/heterosexism, domestic violence, racism, social justice, and juvenile justice. 

His over 15 years of professional and personal life experiences combined with his travels through the United States, Native American reservations, Mexico, Korea, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, the Netherlands, Spain, Basque, and France, has helped him articulate and critically analyze many of the socio-economic and environmental problems that are effecting the world. His experience as a public and keynote speaker and teacher has allowed him to develop a style which synthesizes his past as an “at risk” youth with his ability to speak critically on domestic and international policies, popular culture, hip-hop and indigenous cultures.   

Fidel is a 1998 graduate of the University of Southern California (Mc Nair Scholar) with degrees in both Chicano/Latino Studies and African American Studies.  While attending USC, Fidel lived in Zimbabwe studying African spiritual traditions, colonialism and neo-liberalism in Africa.  Rodriguez is initiated as an Omo Awo in the IFA spiritual tradition of Ode Remo, Nigeria, a student of Kung-Fu and is of Chumash and Mexican descent born and raised in Santa Barbara, California.