Kennedy Center Announces Review Of Honors Process

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Kennedy Center in Washington is reviewing the way it selects artists who receive the high-profile Kennedy Center Honors each year after a group said it was excluding Latinos.

The formal review announced Monday includes members of the Kennedy Center board and an 11-member artist advisory panel. The panel includes actress Debbie Allen, cellist Yo-Yo Ma and Broadway actor Raul Esparza. It will also include representatives from the Latin Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture.

The 35-year-old Kennedy Center Honors have become a major cultural prize that comes with a salute from the president and secretary of State.

In September, the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts criticized the Kennedy Center for excluding Latinos. Only two past honorees were Hispanics.

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