Ansiedad (Cierra Ramirez), standing on the bridge between childhood and womanhood, is looking to fast-track the transition. Raised by her over-worked, under-attentive single mother, Grace (Eva Mendes), Ansiedad would like to dispense with her childhood as quickly as possible. So when her English teacher, Ms. Armstrong (Patricia Arquette), begins a unit on adolescent "rites of passage," Ansiedad hits the library to research all the available options for coming of age.

With Mother's Day fast approaching, director Patricia Riggen has brought a coming of age story to life in the movie "Girl in Progress," which she believes could be a chance for mothers and daughters to bond over real issues at the box office.

"Girl in Progress," directed by Riggen, follows Cierra Ramirez's character Ansiedad, a 13-year-old girl trying to deal with life with her neglectful mother Grace. Grace, played by Eva Mendes, is a struggling single mother who is dealing with financial issues and bad relationships while trying to raise her daughter.

Will President Obama's affirmation of same-sex marriage dilute his favorability in the Hispanic Christian community? How should Hispanic Evangelicals respond?  In order to answer the aforementioned queries, it's important to understand the optic that guides our community.

Will President Obama’s affirmation of same-sex marriage dilute his favorability in the Hispanic community? How should Hispanic born-again believers respond?  

In order to answer the aforementioned queries, it’s important to understand the optic that guides our community.

New York –  In a move that could change how Latinos vote in the 2012 Presidential election, Barack Obama became the first U.S. President to announce his support for same-sex marriage Wednesday, revising his longstanding position on the issue. 

For gay and lesbian Latinos, the announcement was long overdue.  

For months, Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, the influential head of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, complained that the Republican primary was alienating conservative Latino voters. “They don’t want us,” he told me in February, after specifically criticizing Mitt Romney and other candidates for their unvarnished get-tough immigration rhetoric.

Empowered21 Partners with Expolit, Enlace and Luis Palau Ministries at Expolit 2012

Most Historic Congress in Decades for The Latin American Church as They Pass the Torch From One Generation to The Next Generation

Even as Mitt Romney begins courting moderate and independent voters who could determine the outcome in November, his campaign is still working behind the scenes to shore up support from conservatives who have yet to fully embrace him.

Peter Flaherty, Romney’s liaison to social conservatives, is planning to fly to Washington this month to meet with key conservative leaders at a breakfast hosted by Edwin Meese III, who was President Reagan’s attorney general, according to Bay Buchanan, a Romney adviser who is helping to arrange the meeting.

A public memorial service honoring Charles W. “Chuck” Colson will be held at Washington National Cathedral on May 16 at 10 a.m.

Colson, founder of Prison Fellowship and Colson Center for Christian Worldview, passed away on April 21. He took an abrupt turn for the worse after recovering from surgery to remove a pool of clotted blood on the surface of his brain.

As the next round of Republican presidential primaries kicks off today, attention is now shifting to speculation over who the presumed nominee, Mitt Romney, will choose as his vice-presidential running mate.

There's no shortage of contenders: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, and Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels have all been mentioned.