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: Aircraft *Medium bomber, a class of warplane * Tecma Medium, a French hang glider design Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''The Medium'' (1921 film), a German silent film * ''The Medium'' (1951 film), a film vers ...

'', ''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 may refer to: * ''Deep Cover'' (1992 film), a 1992 American crime film starring Laurence Fishburne. * ''Deep Cover'' (2025 film), a British action comedy film about improv actors going undercover for the police * ''Deep Cover'' (soundt ...

'', '' 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 i ...

'', ''

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''. 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. She was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as ...

, won the 2009 Exceptional Merit in Media Award from the

National Women's Political Caucus The National Women's Political Caucus (NWPC) is an organization which was founded in 1971 by leaders of the women's liberation movement to promote women's participation in government. The group describes itself as a multi-partisan grassroots or ...

. 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 is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and author. Moore's work frequently addresses various Social issue, social, political, and economic topics. He first became publicly known for his award-winning debut ...

’s TCF Festival, and was a ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' 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, on March 4, 1789. Originally includi ...

: the

Equal Rights Amendment The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was a proposed amendment to the Constitution of the United States, United States Constitution that would explicitly prohibit sex discrimination. It is not currently a part of the Constitution, though its Ratifi ...

.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 Ti ...

'' 69 (136): 1D.

Early life

Kamala Lopez attended

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

, 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 '' I Heart Huckabees'' (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 drama television series created by Patrick Hasburgh and Stephen J. Cannell for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It aired from April 12, 1987 to April 27, 1991, spanning 103 episodes over five s ...

'', ''

Lie To Me ''Lie to Me'' (stylized as ''Lie to me*'') is an American crime drama television series created by Samuel Baum that aired on Fox from January 21, 2009, to January 31, 2011. In the show, Dr. Cal Lightman ( Tim Roth) and his colleagues in The ...

'', '' Alias'', '' 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 ca ...

'', and ''

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

''. 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 broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

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

Wired Wired may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''Wired'' (Jeff Beck album), 1976 * ''Wired'' (Hugh Cornwell album), 1993 * ''Wired'' (Mallory Knox album), 2017 * "Wired", a song by Prism from their album '' Beat Street'' * "Wired ...

'', 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 hosted '' Talking Dead'', an hourlong aftershow on AMC affiliated with the network's zombie drama series '' ...

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

Madrid, Spain Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, 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 playing the title role in the 2004 play '' A Single Woman'', and its 2008 film adaptation, based on the life of first US Cong ...

, 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 ...

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, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

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. Era or ERA may also refer to: * Era (geology), a subdivision of geologic time * Calendar era Education * Academy of European Law (German: '), an international law school * ERA School, in Melbourne, Australia * E ...

Gloria Steinem Gloria Marie Steinem ( ; born March 25, 1934) is an American journalist and social movement, social-political activist who emerged as a nationally recognized leader of second-wave feminism in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s. ...

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

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

''.

Awards and recognition

*2019 - YaleWomen Impact Award for Excellence *2016 - Champion of Justice - National Civil Rights Group

Equal Rights Advocates Equal Rights Advocates (ERA) is an American non-profit gender justice/women's rights organization that was founded in 1974. ERA is a legal and advocacy organization for advancing rights and opportunities for women, girls, and people of marginalize ...

* 2016 - Best U.S Documentary Audience Award -

Traverse City Film Festival The Traverse City Film Festival was 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 that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

* 2015 - Woman of the Year Award -

Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors (LACBOS) is the five-member Board of Supervisors, 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 Se ...

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, became the organization's executive director in July 2016. ''Women's eNews'' publishes international news articles spe ...

* 2011 - Woman of Courage Award 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 contemp ...

* 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 television actresses American women film directors American women film producers American women screenwriters American women columnists Film directors from New York City HuffPost writers and columnists Year of birth missing (living people)