Kamala Lopez is an American filmmaker, actress, writer, director, and political activist. She has had starring roles in '' Black Jesus'', ''

Medium Medium may refer to: Science and technology Aviation *Medium bomber, a class of war plane *Tecma Medium, a French hang glider design Communication * Media (communication), tools used to store and deliver information or data * Medium of ...

'', ''24'', ''Alias'', ''NYPD Blue'', ''Hill Street Blues'', ''Miami Vice'', and ''21 Jump Street''. She has been a featured actress in films including '' Born in East L.A.'', ''

Deep Cover ''Deep Cover'' is a 1992 American action thriller film starring Laurence Fishburne, Jeff Goldblum and Charles Martin Smith, and directed by veteran actor Bill Duke in his third directorial outing. The screenplay was written by Henry Bean and Ac ...

'', '' The Burning Season'', ''

Clear and Present Danger ''Clear and Present Danger'' is a political thriller novel, written by Tom Clancy and published on August 17, 1989. A sequel to ''The Cardinal of the Kremlin'' (1988), main character Jack Ryan becomes acting Deputy Director of Intelligence in t ...

'', ''

Lightning Jack ''Lightning Jack'' is a 1994 Western comedy film written by and starring Paul Hogan, as well as Cuba Gooding Jr. and Beverly D'Angelo. Plot Lightning Jack Kane, a long-sighted Australian outlaw in the American west, lives with his horse, Mate. ...

'', and ''

I Heart Huckabees ''I Heart Huckabees'' (stylized as ''I ♥ Huckabees''; also ''I Love Huckabees'') is a 2004 independent black comedy film directed and produced by David O. Russell, who co-wrote the screenplay with Jeff Baena. A self-described "existential co ...

''. As a filmmaker, her feature film debut, ''A Single Woman'', about the life of first US Congresswoman

Jeannette Rankin Jeannette Pickering Rankin (June 11, 1880 – May 18, 1973) was an American politician and women's rights advocate who became the first woman to hold federal office in the United States in 1917. She was elected to the U.S. House of Representa ...

, won the 2009 Exceptional Merit in Media Award from the

National Women's Political Caucus The National Women's Political Caucus (NWPC), or the Caucus, describes itself as a multi-partisan grassroots organization in the United States dedicated to recruiting, training, and supporting women who seek elected and appointed offices at all ...

. In 2013, her short Spanish-language film ''Ese Beso'' won the Jury Award at the Senorita Cinema Festival and the Audience Award at the Boyle Heights Latina Film Festival. In 2016, her follow-up feature, the documentary ''Equal Means Equal'', won Best U.S. Documentary (Audience Award) at

Michael Moore Michael Francis Moore (born April 23, 1954) is an American filmmaker, author and left-wing activist. His works frequently address the topics of globalization and capitalism. Moore won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for ' ...

s TCF Festival, and was a ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' Critics' Pick. The film was the catalyst behind a national civil rights movement pushing for the ratification of the 28th Amendment to the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven ar ...

: the

Equal Rights Amendment The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution designed to guarantee equal legal rights for all American citizens regardless of sex. Proponents assert it would end legal distinctions between men and ...

.Gonzalez, Luis Manuel (January 29, 1995). "Kamala Lopez-Dawson", ''

La Opinión ''La Opinión'' is a Spanish-language daily newspaper and website based in Los Angeles, California. It is the largest Spanish-language newspaper in the United States and the second-most read newspaper in Los Angeles (after ''The Los Angeles Time ...

'' 69 (136): 1D.

Early life

Lopez was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and raised in

Caracas Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...

, Venezuela. She attended

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

, graduating with a bachelor's degree in philosophy and theater studies.

Career

Lopez has worked as an actor in more than thirty feature films, including ''

'' (2004), '' Born in East L.A.'' (1987), ''

'' (1992), and '' The Burning Season'' (1994); and more than seventy television shows, including ''

21 Jump Street ''21 Jump Street'' is an American police procedural television series that aired on the Fox network and in first run syndication from April 12, 1987, to April 27, 1991, with a total of 103 episodes. The series focuses on a squad of youthful-loo ...

'', ''

Lie To Me ''Lie to Me'' (stylized as ''Lie to me*'') is an American crime drama television series. It originally ran on the Fox network from January 21, 2009, to January 31, 2011. In the show, Dr. Cal Lightman (Tim Roth) and his colleagues in The Lightma ...

'', ''

Alias Alias may refer to: * Pseudonym * Pen name * Nickname Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Alias'' (2013 film), a 2013 Canadian documentary film * ''Alias'' (TV series), an American action thriller series 2001–2006 * ''Alias the ...

'', '' Star Trek: Voyager'', ''

NYPD Blue ''NYPD Blue'' is an American police procedural television series set in New York City, exploring the struggles of the fictional 15th Precinct detective squad in Manhattan. Each episode typically intertwines several plots involving an ensemble c ...

'', and ''

It's Garry Shandling's Show ''It's Garry Shandling's Show'' is an American sitcom that was initially broadcast on Showtime from September 10, 1986 to May 25, 1990. It was created by Garry Shandling and Alan Zweibel. The series is notable for breaking the fourth wall. S ...

''. In 2007 Lopez hosted ''

Wired Science ''Wired Science'' was a weekly television program that covered modern scientific and technological topics. In January 2007 PBS aired pilot episodes for three different science programs, including ''Wired Science''. Using Nielsen ratings, CPB-sp ...

'' on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

, a production of KCET Los Angeles in association with ''

Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fra ...

'', along with comedian

Chris Hardwick Christopher Ryan Hardwick (born November 23, 1971) is an American comedian, actor, television and podcast host, writer, and producer. He hosts ''Talking Dead'', an hourlong aftershow on AMC affiliated with the network's zombie drama series '' The ...

. Lopez directed the Spanish-language short film ''Ese Beso'' in

Madrid, Spain Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, starring Daniel Freire and Lia Chapman. She directed '' A Single Woman'' (2008), about the life of the first US congresswoman,

. The film was adapted from the play of the same name, written by

Jeanmarie Simpson Jeanmarie Simpson (born November 20, 1959) is an American theatre artist and peace activist best known for writing and starring in the 2004 play '' A Single Woman'', and its 2008 film adaptation, based on the life of first US Congresswoman, Jea ...

, a relative of Lopez. Lopez produced the new media series ''Speechless Without Writers'' with director

George Hickenlooper George Loening Hickenlooper III (May 25, 1963 – October 29, 2010) was an American narrative and documentary filmmaker. Early life Hickenlooper was born in St. Louis, the son of Barbara Jo Wenger, a social worker and stage actress, and George L ...

during the Writers Guild of America strike of 2007.

Political activism

In 2009 Lopez created the ERA Education Project, a national media campaign to raise awareness about the

in the United States. She interviewed women nationwide about how civil rights issues such as equal pay and domestic violence affect their daily lives. In October 2013, she launched a

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

campaign for the documentary ''Equal Means Equal''. This project about the status of women in America also meant to revive public support for the

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

Gloria Steinem Gloria Marie Steinem (; born March 25, 1934) is an American journalist and social-political activist who emerged as a nationally recognized leader of second-wave feminism Second-wave feminism was a period of feminist activity that began in ...

appears in the film, along with more than 100 interviewees. Lopez blogs for ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

''.

Awards and recognition

*2019 - YaleWomen Impact Award for Excellence *2016 - Champion of Justice - National Civil Rights Group Equal Rights Advocates * 2016 - Best U.S Documentary Audience Award -

Traverse City Film Festival The Traverse City Film Festival is an annual film festival held at the end of July in Traverse City, Michigan. The festival was created as an annual event in 2005 to help “save one of America's few indigenous art forms—the cinema". The event ...

* 2016 - Latino Spirit Award for Achievement in Advocacy and Entertainment -

State of California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

* 2015 - Woman of the Year Award -

Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors (LACBOS) is the five-member governing body of Los Angeles County, California, United States. History On April 1, 1850 the citizens of Los Angeles elected a three-man Court of Sessions as their first ...

and the Women's Commission * 2013 - Jury Award - Senorita Cinema Festival * 2013 - Audience Award - Boyle Heights Latina Film Festival * 2012 - Named one of the 21 Leaders for the 21st Century by

Women's eNews ''Women's eNews'' is a nonprofit online news service based in New York City. It was founded by the late Rita Jensen. Lori Sokol, PhD, now leads the organization, assuming the title of Executive Director since July, 2016. Women's eNews publishes inte ...

* 2011 -

Woman of Courage Award Since 1994, the National Organization for Women (NOW) has presented the Woman of Courage Award annually (in most years) at the National NOW Conference, and periodically at issue-based summits organized by NOW and/or the NOW Foundation. Honorees are ...

from the

* 2009 - Retrospective for Work as an Actor and Director -

Museum of Latin American Art The Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA) was founded by Dr. Robert Gumbiner in 1996 in Long Beach, California, United States and serves the greater Los Angeles area. MOLAA is the only museum in the United States dedicated to modern and contempora ...

* 2009 - Exceptional Merit Media Award for A "Single Woman" -

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez, Kamala Living people 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses 21st-century American women writers American film actresses American film directors American television actresses American women film directors American women film producers American women screenwriters American women columnists Actresses from New York City American actresses of Indian descent American people of Venezuelan descent Venezuelan people of Indian descent HuffPost writers and columnists Year of birth missing (living people)

Early life

Career

Political activism

Awards and recognition

Filmography

Film

Television

See also

References

External links