Fauna Hodel

  The topic for this show is ‘One Day She'll Darken’; an inspirational story of one woman's life of prejudice, adoption, poverty, displacement, discovery, horror, hope, acceptance, and triumph.

Our next special guest believes in working your dream to inspire others to reach for their dreams and persevere until they come to be a reality.

If you would like to learn the secrets of the color of love and how to empower yourself to reach for your dreams, then I highly recommend you pay attention to this guru who has overcome so many obstacles by living from her heart.

Fauna Hodel was born in San Francisco the Caucasian offspring of a prominently social California family and was given away at birth to a young Black woman who worked as a restroom attendant in a Nevada casino. The purpose was to insure that a Black family raises the baby. In her 16 year old mother’s eyes, Blacks were the far more loving than most everyone she encountered in the white community. To insure that the child would never return to her emotionally reclusive white family, she made sure her new baby's birth certificate listed the father as "Negro". The child, of course, grew up believing that she was of mixed race. She struggled before, during and after civil rights were enacted, enduring prejudice from both races.

She has committed her adult life to breaking down racial barriers by sharing her own experiences and encouraging individuals to pursue their dreams.

Fauna is the Executive Producer and Creative Consultant for the motion picture, Pretty Hattie’s Baby, based on her life story.

Ms. Hodel’s commitment to racial equality has led her to become known for her inspirational talks. Among her speaking engagements, include the Dept. of Communications and the Inter-racial Dialogue Club at Santa Monica College where she was a motivational guest speaker on human rights in film. She has also presented a two day seminar titled, A Story About The Color of Love at Brigham Young University, and has served on the panel for Women’s Independent Film Makers at California State University, Northridge.

Ms. Hodel was a guest speaker at the Women in Power events in Honolulu, and has written and produced a live forum Theater Presentation titled, “Working the Dream: The Fauna Hodel Story.” In addition, Ms. Hodel has been a Creative Consultant to a number of artistic projects that exhibit similar ideals in both film and video. She currently resides in the Los Angeles near her two daughters, Rasha and Yvette.

In this interview, you will learn:
1. Overcoming the obstacles of living in a racial divide
2. How she broke down racial barriers
3. Stepping into the color of love
4. How she coped with the Black Dahlia / George Hodel horror
5. Working your dreams