A few hours before the start of Black History Month, Detriot new era has spread. The nonprofit’s initiative, ‘The Streets Is watching’, received rave reviews when the video showed Black male volunteers keeping Black women safe by escorting them. after dark. That includes taking time off work, loading groceries, and even pumping gas.
ABOVE Shade roomOn his Instagram account alone, the video has garnered more than 6.4 million views and over 500,000 likes.
While this may be the first impression of the organization for many, its co-founder and president Zeek Williams says New Era is a household name in Detroit.
“It took eight years for the world to see some of the things we were doing in our community,” Williams told TSR in a video interview on Friday (January 10).
And they are making their own history by serving Blacks in Detroit with no regrets since August 2014 every day. Not just ‘typical gifting season’. Their program involved bringing resources to Black homes on a consistent basis, including but not limited to city council updates, representation information, entertainment year-round children, food resources, and utility insurance.
That particular program, called Hood to Hood, runs year-round, especially in the summer when improv and children’s communities need the most resources.
“We are not sorry about [serving the Black community,]Zeek said. “If it’s a house on the block that’s on fire, why would I take the fire hydrant and water the other houses?”
Serving and Protecting Blacks Is the Way of Life for a New Era Nation
The New Era wants this form of living and building community to be a way of life, not a reflection of charity, punishment or seasonal giving.
Zeek says:
“Our goal has always been to be a trustworthy organization. I feel like in our community, in the Black communities, we’re very comfortable with clichés like okay, we’ll do something for the community by Thanksgiving. We will return the turkey. When the kids go back to school, we’ll be wearing backpacks. At Christmas we give out toys.
We wrap up community work and community engagement with a number of events each year. It’s like our community needs more than that when you talk about attention, structure, organization and the like. For us, we want to be able to make your people, make your community a way of life and make people understand that we are not just waiting for traditions or holidays to make people happy. mine.”
Co-founder and CEO Kierra Williams and Zeek echoed each other in their passionate sharing about the nonprofit. She spoke eloquently about the organization’s core—doing SOMETHING to make the world of Black children and communities a better place.
“Our organization focuses on accountability, personal responsibility, household responsibility, community responsibility, economic and financial responsibility. Those are just our five principles, but it’s really about a lifestyle.”
Kierra added:
“One thing Malcolm X said that really impacted me was, ‘we’re not outnumbered, we’re not organized.’ So it’s also about accountability. Take responsibility for yourself and realize that we as a people have the right to take back our communities. We don’t have to wait for a political figure to do so, we don’t have to wait for our church to step up and do so. These are things we can do ourselves if we feel a responsibility to do so. These are the obligations we have to our communities and our children.”
The new era is not about community policing, but about protecting vulnerable blacks
Then there’s the element of public safety — an issue that Zeek says is troubling the Black community but is often overlooked.
“We have a lot of different aspects of our community development and I feel that one of the things that has always been hidden is safety. Public safety is a real issue in Black communities and it’s been around for quite some time.”
Their ‘Street Watching’ initiative from viral video has been around since the organization started. New Era Detroit recently began serving the majority female-led staff at the Small Scholars Development Center.
The staff is usually closed in the evening. They provide care and education for children from birth to four years of age and provide after-school performing arts for ages 5-13.
In December, Bradley Thurman, 19, shot and robbed his wife and mother Tracie Golden, 53, at a party store in December. The incident happened minutes from Little Scholars.
The staff from the development center then contacted New Era Detroit. The organization is dedicated to members to ensure staff and children leave the center safely and without fear of harm.
“We had a great response to [New Era Detroit]. They come, they are professional,” said Debbie Taylor, assistant administrator of Little Scholars. “They made us feel comfortable, they introduced themselves. And from the first day they arrived, they worked. They made sure they asked us what time we were leaving and we asked when you would start and he said we would start now because… you guys need protection. Tehy started work right away which made me feel very secure, very safe. It makes us feel that we have someone who cares about us in the community.”
Human resources manager Jarrite Jackson said New Era Detroit members asked surrounding businesses, including a gas station and liquor store, about outside cameras to make sure “extra protection.”
But the New Era is not about arming or encouraging violence but about protecting the innocent – the vulnerable – women, children and the elderly.
Zeek says:
“We work to reduce stress, resolve conflicts and bring communities together. It’s at the forefront of how we even monitor our own community – making sure everyone understands that we come with peace and love. It’s not about using force and saying we’re big and bad and we have guns… but we’re there to protect innocent people. Our goal is simple, leave innocent people alone.”
The New Era is not necessarily here to deal with violence, including gang violence. Their purpose is to protect people who are living their daily lives, like the staff at Little Scholars.
New Era Detroit co-founder credits black women for its success
Videos of their public safety initiatives aside, the New Era relies heavily on Black women. That’s a point that Zeek made clear. Yes, it started as a men-only group, but Zeek says it lasted a week.
By the time they had their first formal meeting, Black women were also present and ready to do the work, including the co-founder of Kierra.
Zeek said the membership expansion is “best decision ever.” He credits Black women and their cooperation and solidarity for the continued development of the New Age, including the opening of chapters in 18 other cities.
“Nothing works without the help of Black women, especially when you talk about Black movements,” says Zeek. He added, “The reason we’ve been successful and come this far is because of Black women.”
