Kamala Lopez seized the opportunity to educate and inform Americans that women are still not included in the United States Constitution. Her non-profit women’s rights organisation, Equal Means Equal (EME), launched #WomenMakingHistory2022 to raise awareness, amplify the message of equality and host events surrounding the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) across the United States.
One of EME’s longtime supporters is the artist and photographer Jill Greenberg, responsible for the iconic "Handmaid’s Tale" campaign, among other world-renowned photographic exhibitions.
Jill co-hosted an Equal Means Equal event at Fotografiska, Manhattan’s new photography museum.
Events
The event, "Does Equal Mean Equal for Women?", featured a short Film that Kamala directed called "Legalize Equality," followed by a panel discussion about the status of the ERA now that the enforcement date has passed. Panelists discussed a recent New York Times article about it, as well as President Biden’s statement, which seems to suggest that the ERA is simultaneously valid and invalid.
Screenings of "Equal Means Equal" were also held at universities and community centres across the country, with panels both in-person and online. At Millersville University in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the audience was divided by gender after the screening.
Conversations were held separately to explore differences in perception of sex discrimination, and participants discussed possible solutions.
Wrapping up the month of events, EME and Reserved magazine co-hosted the premiere of the teaser for "Equal Means Equal: The Sequel" at NeueHouse Hollywood.
Documentary 'Equal Means Equal'
Kamala’s original documentary, "Equal Means Equal," which began the new national push for women’s equality after a more than 30-year lull, was released in 2016 through The Orchard and can be found on Amazon. The film was released the summer before the first Women’s March and the explosion of the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements, and it exposed the lack of federal equality for women in the United States.
The film spread across the country, carried by women who were shocked to find out their basic rights were being withheld despite overwhelming propaganda otherwise.
From the screenings of the film, in lobbies, community centres and living rooms, viewers formed organic groups in their communities and began organising and mobilising to ratify the ERA in their states. Nevada was the first of the new raft of states to ratify, in March 2017, followed by Illinois in 2018 and Virginia in 2020.
Now Kamala directs the sequel, detailing the path from the 2015 Oscars when executive producer of "Equal Means Equal," Patricia Arquette, won an Academy Award for her role in Richard Linklater’s "Boyhood" – and made a speech about equal rights for women – to the moment when the 38th state was ratified and ERA became law, to the lawsuits that followed and beyond.
Acting career
As well as keeping up this fight, Kamala has maintained the momentum of her acting career by booking an exciting new role. She will join the new season of "Mayans MC," a series on FX that’s a spin-off from popular show "Sons of Anarchy," about a Southern Californian motorcycle club. She was especially thrilled to work with well-known film and TV star Edward James Olmos, who she acted opposite in "Miami Vice" many years ago in her very first TV role after graduating from Yale.
