MELANIN: The Good… The Bad… and the Sacred
with Bishop Tonyia Rawls
The 19th Annual CLGS John E. Boswell Lecture Series
April 16, 2026 at 4pm (Pacific Time)
Click here to register in advance for this online lecture!
We are living in a day and age where the amount of God-given melanin in one’s skin can literally determine what jobs you have access to, what quality of education you can receive, what types of money and other resources you have access to and even how much shorter your life-expectancy will be than that of non-melanated people.
Melanin can be an accurate indicator of how likely it is for you to be arrested and disappeared. Melanin has even been used,by some, as a litmus test for holiness and acceptance by God. This lecture will shine light on the varied ways these behaviors have impacted our nation and the church itself. God did not make a mistake when choosing a young, Black, unwed teenager, to carry Jesus, the proclaimed Son of God.
We will discuss some of why that matters.