We forget so quickly that we are God’s beloved children and allow the many curses of our world to darken our hearts. Therefore we have to be reminded of our belovedness and remind others of theirs.”—Henri Nouwen As much as I love this quote, I notice the author uses the word “darken” to suggest something wrong, inferior, and undesirable. In many cultures of the world, dark skin is not seen as a desirable or naturally beautiful feature in women and girls. The legacy of dark skin in the United States is a particularly tragic one, in which girls and women who have dark skin and are of African descent (especially those whose ancestors were enslaved in early American history) are devalued, ridiculed, or socially rejected and economically disadvantaged because of their skin color. As we are now rolling away from Black History Month in the States, I am considering the question someone posed: does God love dark skinned women less than other women? “… we have to be reminded of...