I support and applaud VP Kamala Harris for her politically correct and far, far more important politically courageous move in going to the nation’s southern border Friday. The step is long overdue. 

Dealing with border control, managing the surging influx of social needs and strengthening immigration laws is no small measure, but it is one in which we expect, and dare I say, need, our leaders to deal with – head on.

To ignore the 5 C’s of system thinking - curiosity, compassion, choice, clarity, and courage is to do so and her own political detriment and further still, imperils the nation’s ability to deal with this quandary thoughtfully and humanely - as well as other exigencies facing the entire wobbling globe. 

Consider this, how much economic aid should we grant to red states which fail to acknowledge the dread and devastation of climate change when cataclysmic weather catastrophes occur in those states? 

And yet we offer little to nothing to the nations of Africa which take on much of the brunt of these changes and yet are responsible, cause or produce few of these destructive occurrences.

Racially, more and more Latin immigrants now think of themselves as white and tilt towards Republican party values. Nevertheless VP Harris is right to champion the cause for fair, humane treatment of all peoples regardless of race, ethnicity, nation of origin, or party affiliation.

Carl Jung, the Swiss psychologist reminds us that “thinking is hard work, that’s why most folk judge.”  And it was the American revolutionary Thomas Paine who wrote, “Reputation is what men and women think of us; character is what God and angels know of us.”

We need leaders who will do the demanding work of thinking and expressing themselves with grit, integrity and godliness. Those who will lookout for the interest of the poor, the needy and the less fortunate and not themselves. 

Be the light, VP Harris. Trust God, and be the light.

The writer is Rev. Johnny N. Golden, Sr., pastor of the New Unity Baptist Church, Baltimore, Md. newunitybaptistchurch.org