The Imagen Awards are administered by the Imagen Foundation, an organization dedicated to "encouraging and recognizing the positive portrayals of

Latinos Hispanic and Latino Americans ( es, Estadounidenses hispanos y latinos; pt, Estadunidenses hispânicos e latinos) are Americans of Spaniards, Spanish and/or Latin Americans, Latin American ancestry. More broadly, these demographics include a ...

in the entertainment industry." To be considered for an Imagen Award, a media piece or person must go through an entry process. Helen Hernandez is president of the Imagen Foundation.

History

In 1983, Helen Hernandez met with prolific

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

writer and producer Norman Lear. "Lear was acutely aware of the near absence of positive portrayals of Latinos in the entertainment industry and understood the importance of positive images. The two met with leaders of the

National Conference for Community and Justice The National Conference for Community and Justice is an American social justice organization focused on fighting biases and promoting understanding between people of different races and cultures. The organization was founded in 1927 as the Natio ...

, a respected non-sectarian human relations organization committed to fighting prejudice and racial tensions".Imagen Foundation ~ About
/ref> The result was the Imagen Foundation Awards competition (or Imagen Awards), established in 1985. Past honorees include such entertainment industry professionals as

Andy García Andrés Arturo García Menéndez (born April 12, 1956), known professionally as Andy García, is a Cuban-born American actor, director and musician. He first rose to prominence acting in Brian De Palma's ''The Untouchables'' (1987) alongside ...

, Antonio Banderas,

Phil Roman Philip Roman (born December 21, 1930) is an American animator and the director of the ''Peanuts'' and ''Garfield'' animated specials. He is the founder of animation studios Film Roman and Phil Roman Entertainment. Early life Philip Roman was ...

Edward James Olmos Edward James Olmos (born February 24, 1947) is an American actor, director, producer, and activist. He is best known for his roles as Lieutenant Martin "Marty" Castillo in ''Miami Vice'' (1984–1989), ''American Me'' (1992) (which he also dir ...

Bill Melendez José Cuauhtémoc "Bill" Melendez (November 15, 1916 – September 2, 2008) was an American character animator, voice actor, film director and producer. Melendez is known for working on the ''Peanuts'' animated specials. Before ''Peanuts'', he p ...

, Rita Moreno, Jennifer Lopez,

Jenna Ortega Jenna Marie Ortega (born September 27, 2002) is an American actress. She began her career as a child actress, receiving recognition for her role as young Jane in The CW comedy-drama series ''Jane the Virgin'' (2014–2019). Her breakthrough ro ...

and

Héctor Elizondo Héctor Elizondo (born December 22, 1936) is an American character actor. He is known for playing Phillip Watters in the television series ''Chicago Hope'' (1994–2000) and Ed Alzate in the television series '' Last Man Standing'' (2011–2021) ...

References

External links

Imagen Foundation website
1985 establishments in the United States American film awards American television awards Awards established in 1985 {{award-stub

History

Categories

Television Awards

Web Awards

References

External links