criticism : mackenzian

Expect criticism. If you’re doing something worth doing, know that an effort that matters will draw detractors.

Don’t reverse-engineer this principle, though: no matter how tempting it might be to shrug “Must be doing something right!”, criticism isn’t validation all by itself. You’ll need to actually assess your work to prove it worthy.

But if what you’re doing is worth doing, there will be those who think it shouldn’t be done at all and others who, like the moderate ministers of Birmingham, Alabama, object to your method, timing, or goals.

Listen for the message behind the criticism.

A black man with close cropped hair and full beard draws on a canvas or paper with a marker. Photo credit: Death to the Stock Photo. Used under license. — *If you’re doing something worth doing, it will draw detractors. (Licensed image.)*

Black Enterprise recently asked Alice Walker about how she’s weathered criticism over the course of her life:

You come into this world with your assignment and you kind of know that there are certain things that you will be given the understanding to try to accomplish for the common good.

And that’s your job, and you just take it on like any other job. And then you figure out that many people won’t like it, and they’ll try to stop you, and they may stop you, but that’s their job. It’s not your job.

Know your job. And know that there’s no advance without detractors, no action without concern trolling, and no innovation without critics.

Crowds don’t gather to stare at an empty wall: reactive attention is a sign that something is afoot. So get clear about what that something is, and then do your part to pour substance into it. That’s how criticism can move you forward.

“You write in order to change the world, knowing perfectly well that you probably can’t, but also knowing that [writing] is indispensable to the world. The world changes according to the way people see it, and if you alter, even by a millimeter, the way people look at reality, then you can change it.” ―James Baldwin

Sometimes James Baldwin just preaches from the dead. Here’s another passage, from Another Country:

People don’t have any mercy. They tear you limb from limb, in the name of love. Then, when you’re dead, when they’ve killed you by what they made you go through, they say you didn’t have any character. They weep big, bitter tears – not for you. For themselves, because they’ve lost their toy.

He saw people, he saw society, and he wrote down what he saw. Powerful.

How detractors can move you forward

“You write in o…