Kamala Lopez

Kamala Lopez
Born New York, New York, U.S.
Occupation Actress
Years active 1980–present
Spouse(s) Joel Marshall (m. 2007)


Kamala Lopez is an actress, director, and political activist. She has appeared in such films as Any Day Now, I Heart Huckabees and Born in East L.A..[1]

Early life

Lopez was born in New York City and raised in Caracas, Venezuela.[2]

Career

Lopez has worked as an actor in over thirty feature films including I Heart Huckabees, Born in East L.A., Deep Cover, and The Burning Season[1] and over seventy television shows including Lie To Me, Alias, Star Trek Voyager, NYPD Blue and It's Garry Shandling's Show.

In 2007 Lopez hosted Wired Science on PBS, a production of KCET Los Angeles in association with Wired, along with comedian Chris Hardwick.[3][4][5]

Lopez directed the Spanish language short film Ese Beso in Madrid, Spain, starring Daniel Freire and Lia Chapman. She directed A Single Woman, about the life of first US congresswoman, Jeannette Rankin.[6] The film was adapted from the play of the same name, written by Jeanmarie Simpson, a relative of Lopez,[7] and starred Simpson as Jeannette Rankin.[8]

Lopez produced the new media series Speechless Without Writers with director George Hickenlooper during the Writers Guild of America strike of 2007.[9]

Political activism

In 2009 Lopez created the ERA Education Project, a national media campaign to raise awareness about the Equal Rights Amendment in the United States.[10] Lopez began interviewing women nationwide about how civil rights issues such as equal pay and domestic violence affect their daily lives.[11]

In October 2013, she launched a Kickstarter campaign for "Equal Means Equal" to revive public support for the ERA.[12]

MovieMaker Magazine said "indie director Kamala Lopez fought, wheedled and meme'd her way to 158 percent Kickstarter funding with her campaign for women's rights doc 'Equal Means Equal'.[13] Equal Means Equal is Lopez's documentary about the status of women in America.[14] Gloria Steinem appears in the film, along with more than 100 interviewees.[15]

Lopez blogs for The Huffington Post.[16]

Recognition

In 2016, the State of California awarded her the Latino Spirit Award for Achievement in Advocacy and Entertainment and the national civil rights group Equal Rights Advocates named her Champion of Justice.[17] Lopez was named 2015 Woman of the Year from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and the Women's Commission.[18]Ese Beso won the Audience Award at the Boyle Heights Latina Film Festival in 2012.[19] In January 2012, she was named one of the 21 Leaders for the 21st Century by Women's eNews.[20] In July 2011, she received the Woman of Courage Award from the National Women's Political Caucus.[6]

On July 14, 2009, Lopez and Heroica Films received the Exceptional Merit Media Award for A Single Woman.[21] In 2009, she was given a retrospective of her work, both as an actor and director, at the Museum of Latin American Art.[22]

References

  1. 1 2 Gonzalez, Luis Manuel (January 29, 1995). "Kamala Lopez-Dawson", La Opinión 69 (136): 1D.
  2. ↑ Profile, imdb.com; accessed April 18, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Wired Science". PBS. Retrieved 2012-03-13.
  4. ↑ Torres, Vicglamar (October 4, 2007). "La Ciencia al Alcance de Todos" Hoy Nueva York,
  5. ↑ (October, 2007). "Latina Plugs In For Wired Science" Latino Perspectives Magazine "LP Journal"
  6. 1 2 "Kamala Lopez defends women's rights". The Times of India. July 26, 2011.
  7. ↑ Cynthia Schwartz - Advancing Women Peace Artists (2011-05-26). "Civilization Needs Peace as Bread Needs Yeast-Jeannette Rankin, Back in the Kitchen". PRLog. Retrieved 2012-03-13.
  8. ↑ "A Single Woman - Movie About Historic Congresswoman Jeannette Rankin". Asinglewomanmovie.com. Retrieved 2012-03-18.
  9. ↑ "The Striking Writers Speak!". Time. 2007-11-24. Retrieved November 24, 2007.
  10. ↑ "Kamala Lopez defends women's rights". The Times of India. Retrieved 2012-03-13.
  11. ↑ Profile, more.com; accessed April 18, 2015.
  12. ↑ Equal Means Equal profile, moviemaker.com; accessed April 18, 2015.
  13. ↑ MovieMaker coverage of film, moviemaker.com; accessed April 18, 2015.
  14. ↑ Equal Means Equal (film), un.org; accessed April 18, 2015.
  15. ↑
  16. ↑ "Kamala Lopez on". Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2012-03-13.
  17. ↑ http://latinocaucus.legislature.ca.gov/latino-spirit-awards
  18. ↑ http://laccw.lacounty.gov/Events/AnnualEvents/WomenoftheYear.aspx
  19. ↑ "Boyle Heights Latina Independent Film Extravaganza". BHLIFE. Retrieved 2012-03-18.
  20. ↑ WeNews Staff (2012-01-01). "Women's eNews Announces 21 Leaders for the 21st Century 2012". Womens eNews. Retrieved 2012-03-13.
  21. ↑ Staff (2011-11-06). "2011 Exceptional Merit in Media Awards (EMMAs) | National Women's Political Caucus". Nwpc.org. Retrieved 2012-03-13.
  22. ↑ "Museum of Latin American Art homepage". MOLAA. Retrieved 2012-03-18.

External links

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