• COVID-19 Resources
  • About
  • Subscribe
  • Promotions
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • May 8, 2025

Milwaukee Courier Weekly Newspaper

"THE NEWSPAPER YOU CAN TRUST SINCE 1964"

  • News
  • Editorials
  • Education
  • Urban Business
  • Health
  • Religion
  • Upcoming Events
  • Classifieds

Share:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Tweet
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print

‘The Leader Our Parents Taught Us To Be’: The Evolution Of Nate Hamilton

November 21, 2020

By PrincessSafiya Byers and Bridget Fogarty
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service

This story was originally published by Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service, where you can find other stories reporting on fifteen city neighborhoods in Milwaukee. Visit milwaukeenns.org

Nate Hamilton (right) exhorts the crowd to love one another and help build a peaceful community in 2016 as brother Dameion Perkins looks on. (File photo by Andrea Waxman)

Almost seven years ago, Nate Hamilton was working as a roofer, trying to create a good life for his two kids.

Then the death of his brother changed the direction of his life, launching him toward a leadership role to improve relations between police and the community.

His brother, Dontre Hamilton, was killed by a Milwaukee police officer on April 30, 2014, and the incident led to huge protests in Milwaukee and national media attention.

Hamilton became a spokesman for his family, the founder of the Coalition for Justice, and a leader of the protests – though always with an emphasis on nonviolence.

These days, Hamilton leads a city commission that aims to improve relations between the community and the Milwaukee Police Department.

Black people “both as individuals and as a whole, have failed to acknowledge the importance of ourselves,” Hamilton said. “It has become my goal to encourage people to attach themselves to what they care about and fight for it.”

Now a father of five, Hamilton is juggling parenting, being a business owner and police reform activism.

Hamilton attended Milwaukee Area Technical College to study carpentry and started a home-improvement business named Hamilton’s Improvements about a year after the death of his brother. His company does cosmetic work on houses from bathroom and kitchen remodeling to roofing and siding.

‘Willing to listen’

Over the summer, Hamilton was elected chairman of the new Community Collaborative Commission, or CCC, a reconstituted version of the Collaborative Community Committee, of which he was a member since its start.

“I think people like Markasa Tucker and Tammy Rivera saw something in me,” Hamilton said, referring to earlier leaders of the committee that was a precursor to the CCC. “They knew I am wiling to listen and put myself in a position to learn, so they nominated me.”

The new CCC is made up of Black and brown grassroots leaders who work within Milwaukee neighborhoods. When it was still a committee, the CCC in 2017 gathered community input on the U.S. Department of Justice’s unfinished 2016 review of the Milwaukee Police Department.

The group presented its final report in 2019. All but one of the report’s recommendations have still not been taken, according to a June statement.

Doubtful yet hopeful that its recommendations will be implemented, Hamilton said the CCC is moving forward nevertheless.

“We want to create a Milwaukee where the environment is good for everybody,” he said. “Not only are we working to ensure the community is happy, but police as well.”

The CCC is urging the Milwaukee Police Department changes its standard operating procedures for community policing and understands its responsibility, Hamilton said.

Common Council President Cavalier Johnson said the CCC offers the best approach to re-examine the relationship between MPD and the community.

The communicator

One of Hamilton’s best talents as a leader is his skill in communication, he said.

“I grew up with very responsive parents, so we communicated well,” he said. “I just wanted to give that to my kids, and that is still my goal.”

He said that because of the role he has taken as a community leader, people take him almost too seriously.

“I’m actually very talkative,” he said. “I like to laugh and have fun. I don’t think many people know that.”

His brother, Dameion Perkins, agrees.

“He is so passionate about whatever he is a part of that everyone doesn’t get to see it,” Perkins said. “But he can make you laugh.”

He said he especially appreciates how Hamilton stepped up after Dontre was killed.

“He took on learning the policies and procedures,” he said. “He became in that moment the leader our parents taught us to be.”

Hamilton also is finding time for himself.

“I have learned to be selfish enough to take time for myself,” he said. “I have to be fully responsible for myself before I can be responsible for others.”

Share:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Tweet
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print

Popular Interests In This Article: Bridget Fogarty, Community Collaborative Committee, Dontre Hamilton, Nate Hamilton, PrincessSafiya Byers

Read More - Related Articles

  • 7 Community Leaders Share Ideas About the Future of the Social Development Commission
  • ‘I just do it’: How Ameen Allen Gives Back to the Community
  • Evictions are Still High in Milwaukee Here’s What You Need to Know
  • NNS Spotlight: Teach For America Corps Member Brings His Love for Math to Milwaukee
  • The Housing Authority is Making Headlines Again. Here’s What you Need to Know
Become Our Fan On Facebook
Find Us On Facebook


Follow Us On X
Follow Us On X

Editorials

Lakeshia Myers
Michelle Bryant
Dr. Kweku Akyirefi Amoasi formerly known as Dr. Ramel Smith

Journalists

Karen Stokes

Topics

Health Care & Wellness
Climate Change
Upcoming Events
Obituaries
Milwaukee NAACP

Politicians

David Crowley
Cavalier Johnson
Marcelia Nicholson
Governor Tony Evers
President Joe Biden
Vice President Kamala Harris
Former President Barack Obama
Gwen Moore
Milele A. Coggs
Spencer Coggs

Classifieds

Job Openings
Bid Requests
Req Proposals
Req Quotations
Apts For Rent

Contact Us

Milwaukee Courier
2003 W. Capitol Dr.
Milwaukee, WI 53206
Ph: 414.449.4860
Fax: 414.906.5383

Copyright © 2025 · Courier Communications | View Privacy Policy | Site built and maintained by Farrell Marketing Technology LLC
We use third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our website. These companies may use information (not including your name, address, email address, or telephone number) about your visits to this and other websites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used by these companies, click here.