“Seldom do I pause to answer criticism of my work and ideas,” Dr. Martin Luther King once wrote, “If I sought to answer all the criticisms that cross my desk, my secretaries would have little time for anything other than such..and I would have no time for constructive work.”

It’s worth re-iterating that when you are engaged in the work of rebuilding—working for dignity, power, and justice—there will always be those like Sanballat and Tobiah who want to discourage, discredit, and distract the work. Like Nehemiah, you are doing "important work".

It's not that those do this care so much about the people, their situation of dehumanization and oppression, or even your work for trying create a better reality. No. They are only "trying to frighten us into stopping work." (Ch. 6) They only care to distract you from the work.

They want to draw us in to their plot to ruin our reputation and to humiliate us for their own psychological projection, broken self-esteem and self-love, lust for power and control, promotion of their own platform, blogs, organizations, etc.

That's why it's incredibly important to stay the course. Be aware when people are trying to do this. They even bring God on their side. Remember what Toni Morrison said, "the very serious function of racism is distraction. It keeps you from doing your work."

It functions to always make you prove yourself. Remember that. But keep going. While people are arguing, we are making a difference. Doing important work means ignoring irrelevant people so that you can make incredible change. As Kendrick said, “we gon be alright.” Believe that.