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Event Recap

Ernesto Cort茅s, co-director of the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF), delivered the Boisi Center鈥檚 twelfth Annual Prophetic Voices Lecture on Tuesday, March 26 in the Heights Room of Corcoran Commons. Cort茅s is a nationally recognized commu颅nity organizer and Macarthur 鈥淕enius Grant鈥� Fellow who has dedicated his public career to empowering poor and moderate-income communities. In the spirit of the Prophetic Voices Lecture series that has previ颅ously featured Miroslov Volf, Robert George, Sister Helen Prejean and Rev. Peter Gomes, among others, Cort茅s delivered a lively, engaging, and challenging presentation on the role of imagination in prophetic action.

In a display of rhetorical power and intellectual depth, Cort茅s spoke on topics ranging from community organizing principles to biblical prophetic traditions to theories of power that inform community leaders today. He regaled the audience with stories about the power of ordinary citizens to improve their lives and the lives of others through the pursuit of their collective self-inter颅est. At first glance, he noted, self-interest and the com颅mon good appear to be incompatible concerns. While community advocacy is initially motivated by personal concerns, organizers will eventually identify issues that affect people beyond their own families and communi颅ties. In this way, the pursuit of self-interest can enhance the common good.

Cort茅s also emphasized the importance of the IAF鈥檚 鈥渋ron rule鈥�: never do for someone what she or he can do for themselves. This rule, which Cort茅s also identified as the principle of subsidiarity, provides a foundation for promoting intermediate institutions such as broad-based community organizations as agents of political empowerment and societal change. While he empha颅sized the importance of intermediate institutions, he cautioned that subsidiarity ought not be interpreted as an excuse for larger institutions to neglect the needs of smaller communities in society.

Cort茅s鈥� presentation was rich in references to the bibli颅cal prophetic tradition and its influence on community organizing. He interpreted the biblical prophetic narra颅tives through the lens of the work of the IAF, emphasiz颅ing the importance of building relationships and fram颅ing issues as the basis of creating a just society. He also emphasized the significance of anger in the prophetic tradition. This anger, rooted in outrage over injustice, compelled the biblical prophets to critique institutional powers and to pursue change in their societies. These prophets inspire community organizers today by model颅ing societal engagement rooted in passion for justice.

Finally, Cort茅s discussed the importance of power and politics in community organizing. Citing IAF founder Saul Alinsky, Cort茅s argued that there can be no politics without compromise. Although conflict is an inescap颅able component of the IAF organizing model, Cort茅s emphasized the importance of building relationships that bridge political differences. Working with those who oppose one鈥檚 own interest, he argued, is necessary to make political gains. It is through this challenging political process composed of relationship-building, social conflict, and political negotiation that community leaders are able to produce concrete improvements in their quality of life.