Kamala Lopez

Kamala Lopez is a political activist, blogger and published editorialist as well as a film and television actress, producer, director, writer and editor. She is known for her local advocacy for at-risk inner city LA teen girls through Global Girl Media. In 2010 Kamala created The E.R.A. Education Project, a national media campaign to raise awareness about the Equal Rights Amendment in the United States in partnership with the National Women’s Political Caucus (NWPC) Leadership, Development, Education and Research Fund and Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney. Lopez won the 2011 Woman of Courage Award from the National Women's Political Caucus for her exceptional efforts championing civil rights and equality. She is also a frequent contributor to The Huffington Post.

Ms. Lopez has appeared in movies including Born in East L.A., Deep Cover and The Burning Season (co-starring the late Raúl Juliá) in addition to numerous other English and Spanish-language films. She has appeared on such television shows as Beverly Hills, 90210, Murder She Wrote, 21 Jump Street and Hill Street Blues. In 1995 Lopez formed the production company Heroica Films with the mission to write, direct and produce media for women, about women and utilizing women both in front and behind the camera. Kamala’s directorial debut feature film A Single Woman, about the life of first U.S. Congresswoman Jeannette Rankin, received the 2009 Exceptional Merit in Media Award from the NWPC.

Political Activism

ERA Campaign

In 2010 Kamala became the director of the E.R.A. Education Project, a national media campaign to raise awareness about the Equal Rights Amendment in the United States. She won the 2011 Woman of Courage Award from the National Women's Political Caucus.

Global Girl Media

Global Girl Media is a non-profit organization “dedicated to empowering high school age girls from under-served communities through media, leadership and journalistic training”. In her role as Founding Director of the Global Girl Media Los Angeles Bureau, Kamala has supported GGM’s mission by organizing annual training academies, the first of which matriculated 12 LA-based high school girls that reported (in combination with 20 high school girls from Soweto, SA) on the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

The July, 2011 GGM LA Academy is training 12 high-school-age girls, many from marginalized communities in Los Angeles, and will feature their work in an international exhibition focused on women’s and girls' rights globally in October.

Film, Television and Other Media

Directing

A Single Woman

She directed the film A Single Woman, which premiered in the United States Congress and has since been invited to screen at The Smithsonian Institution, The United Nations, The National Arts Club, and Yale University. It is currently being sold on DVD. The film received the Exceptional Merit in Media Award from the National Women's Political Caucus in a ceremony on July 14, 2009, at the National Press Club in Washington DC.

In November 2008, A Single Woman author and star Jeanmarie Simpson was interviewed on the radio show Insight, hosted by Jeffrey Callison on Capitol Public Radio, Sacramento, California's NPR affiliate. During the interview, Simpson disclosed that she had retained an attorney because of issues between herself and the filmmaker of A Single Woman. In February 2010, she was quoted in the Reno News and Review, saying, "Terrible movie. It’s just badly, badly conceived, badly done. The director made a mess of it. It’s really too bad because it’s a fantastic story, and it’s a wonderful, worthy subject, as you know. But it just–the film is a disaster."

Hosting

In 2009 Kamala Lopez hosted Wired Science on PBS.

Personal life

Lopez-Dawson is of Tamil origin on her mother's side and Venezuelan on her father's side. She grew up in Venezuela.

External links

• Kamala Lopez at IMDb
• Kamala Lopez at the Huffington Post