Re-Imagine Leadership

​​Related Reading: 
What Unites
Suffering or Survival?
Freedom Over Texas
The Border Crisis.​
Politics or Purpose?
A Reality
Houston Pride 

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As I close my eyes and drift away to a land where there is love, health, peace, and blessings. I wanted to take the time to think and reflect. 

     The truth is that I was taking the time to think about my previous thoughts, particularly with regards to the question that I ended with: What about these children who have no one to care for them? If God is Love, then how would God react to the recent border crisis? To gain some more understanding from a theological perspective, I decided to read the following verse: Matthew Chapter 6. While I cannot interpret the verse word for word, the word hypocrite did spark some thought. The Oxford dictionary defines the word hypocrite as: 

Click on the link for the webpage.

Matthew - Chapter 6 Click on the link for the webpage

     So why would I connect the verse, word, and the question surrounding the border crisis? I connect this because refraining from assisting children who are in need of care, is contrary to the values of the city of Houston. It seems hypocritical to say that we are a welcoming, diverse city, but then to say that you  don't want to help, or provide a safe space for the children who have entered USA through Texas ports / borders, its hypocritical. Now as I mentioned before the violent separations are something that I don't agree with, but I also don't agree with declining to care for vulnerable children who need space, where they can feel safe and secure.

     Declining to offer assistance and the protests that we are seeing have uncovered deep divides, that stem from political views, beliefs / opinions that have surfaced. But the political tensions are not something that is uncommon, it is common for anyone to have a preferred political view, we can hold this, it is our entitlement. The test of a view becomes apparent when there becomes a tension between what we do and what we believe. This is probably a much more larger test for someone who is a service provider, professional, or a service worker. But it is only a test, if we put our political views before our duties, or the individuals we are asked to serve. For example: In the case of the border children who need love, care, support, are we going to tell them "no, we can't care for you because we simply oppose the politics of the present president", this shouldn't be the case. As I wrote earlier, the politics must be dealt with separately, border children are an outcome of the policy, they are victims, blameless, and not the targets of the politics, or policy formation. Priority should be placed on their care. 

     Any leader, person in a leadership role who fails to maintain the core values of a city because of political views should in any case re-think and reflect about how the matters could have been approached differently. From a humanitarian perspective, we must put the vulnerable first. The hypocrisy, politics, has further revealed racial divides within a city, and also at the national level. 

     What are we resorting to when we hear rhetorics of prejudice steaming top-down, and also declining to care for the vulnerable who are on USA land? The fact of the matter is that the topic of race is at the forefront, deeply entrenched in the politics. We must think differently about how we view race. "white" or "black" race has to be viewed differently. While I can understand the hurts of the past, that stem from slavery, present day racism, and racial poverty, we have to think how can leaders be the example, lead the example, set the tone for inter-race relations. By insisting on party politics, and rhetorics of the past, we are simply re-inventing the wheels that stem from historical hurts. 

     Isn't it better for leaders to offer hope to the future generations, to spark something new, to show that "races" can, and should be able to work and live in harmony with each other. Leadership is the example. The back and forth divides are simply going to instill more hate and divisions. It's time to set the bar higher. Be the example, lead in such a way to show that all "races" can live together. We might not be able to influence all, but to impact and influence just one more person, is a beginning, it is a start.   

​Dedication: These thoughts are dedicated to those who did decide to put politics to the side and offer care, and services for those who needed support in the most vulnerable and delicate times, thank you. 

​My thoughts to share with love & kindness! :) 

Notes: These thoughts were originally hand-written on June 24th, 2018.
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