Virtues for the Revolution

A month ago, I was not familiar with Jacqueline Novogratz or her work. But I happened to catch her conversation with Krista Tippett of On Being, and the stories she recounted there captured my imagination, as they resonated with the community development work that I have been involved with for over a decade on the Near Eastside of Indianapolis. Novogratz is founder and CEO of Acumen, a non-profit investment fund whose focus is investing in social enterprises in low-income communities in developing countries. One of the ideas that I found striking as I listened to the On Being interview, was the concept of patient capital, which sits in the oft-overlooked space between pure philanthropy and market-based investment. Yes, I thought, many initiatives in low-income communities need investment, but won’t initially be profitable enough to secure market-based capital and in the long run can’t become dependent on philanthropic fund-raising. I cheered the imagination it took to steer a course between these two poles.

Before I go any further, I must admit that had I not listened to the On Being interview, Novogratz’s book is not one that I would have been likely to read. As a critic, I’m always a bit skeptical of books in which an individual rosily tells how they (or their organization) has changed the world. I’d typically shrug off a title like Manifesto for a Moral Revolution as hyperbolic, and pass right by it.

Most of the stories that Novogratz tells in this book unfold outside North America. So, why recommend it to Strong Towns readers who predominantly live and work in North America? Novogratz, I believe, offers her readers a rich well of wisdom on the virtues needed to care well for our neighbors and our places, regardless where we find ourselves. (Each chapter of the book focuses on a particular virtue.) The stories were certainly inspiring and illuminated the virtues that Novogratz intended, but the best parts of my engagement with this book were the pauses in which I reflected on the stories, translating them to my own urban midwestern context and realizing that she puts her finger on many of the essential virtues that we are learning as we work with our neighbors to cultivate a flourishing place.

To give you just a tiny taste of the book, here are a few of the virtues that particularly resonated with my own experience.

1. Accompany Each Other

Tucked away in the latter half of the book was a chapter on the virtue of accompaniment. Novogratz notes that she learned this practice from the Jesuits, who prefer to work with their neighbors rather than working for them. Accompaniment, writes Novogratz, “is the willingness to encounter another, to make someone feel valued and seen, bettered for knowing you, never belittled. Guiding another person, organization or community to build confidence and capabilities requires tenacity, a disciplined resolve to show up repeatedly with no expectation of thanks in return. This kind of accompaniment requires the patience to listen to others’ stories without judgement, to offer skills and solutions without imposition.”

Many people I know who are doing community development work in North America are doing great things, but often lack precisely this sort of accompaniment. Their work is simply a job, and they often don’t live in or near the place where they are working, thus creating a separation between the work they are doing and the life they choose for themselves and their families. Indeed, Novogratz observes that “the opposite of accompaniment is separation.” Arguably, some degree of separation can be healthy, but accompaniment remains a virtue regardless of where we draw our lines of separation: do we see our neighbors as fellow human beings with whom we can learn and grow, or do we imagine ourselves as heroes empowered to fix the ills of our place?

Jacqueline Novogratz on patient capitalism.

2. Hold Opposing Values in Tension

Another of the virtues that resonates with my own experience is “Holding Opposite Values in Tension,” which also reverberates through other virtues that Novogratz explores (e.g., “Partner with Humility and Audacity” and “Use the Power of Markets, but Don’t be Seduced by Them”). Novogratz offers in this chapter the example of patient capital that flows from the best of both market-based investing and philanthropy. Her stories also highlight the importance of both generosity and accountability in Acumen’s investing. She writes, “If we ignore the tensions within ourselves, our organizations, and our societies—if we keep the conflicts internalized and unmentioned—they don’t disappear. Instead, as soon as we begin navigating complex issues and decisions across lines of difference, those conflicts become exacerbated.”

3. Listen to Unheard Voices

I’ll mention one more virtue that stood out as timely and wise, “Listen to Unheard Voices.” Although in the last five years, American society has begun to make some big strides in this direction (e.g., the #metoo movement or the very recent movement toward antiracism in the wake of George Floyd’s murder), we still have a long way to go. Listening is a vital part of the work of cultivating trust and respect, which allow a community to collaborate in powerful and transformative ways. “If we want to see someone more fully and demonstrate that we respect him or her,” Novogratz writes, “we must learn to listen not just with our ears, but with all of ourselves—our eyes, the emotion we sense in the other, our knowledge of their history, of their very identity. Listening deeply and hearing all that is unsaid is crucial to gaining awareness of self and of others.”

How often do community listening sessions become rote, creating the appearance of listening to the community without actually hearing the deep joys and pains of all neighbors? It is in this careful, embodied sort of listening that Novogratz believes we will move together toward liberation and sustainable change.

Manifesto for a Moral Revolution offers rich wisdom for the long, slow journey of cultivating healthy places, but uncovering this wisdom requires a little work of the reader. To get the most out of this book, we cannot simply cruise briskly through Novogratz’s stories, but rather must bring them into conversation with the stories of our own lives and places. And as we step forward into this conversation, we will find that not only are our places transformed but that we ourselves are also transformed into a deeper and more vibrant way of being.

Cover image via Unsplash.

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About the Author

C. Christopher Smith is the founding editor of The Englewood Review of Books, and an employee of the Englewood Community Development Corp. He lives and works on the Near Eastside of Indianapolis, and writes about books, literacy, urban places, and the transformative practice of conversation. Find him online at: .

Twitter: @ChrisSmithIndy Website: C-Christopher-Smith.com