Rightly, a memorial will mark Dontre Hamilton’s legacy

I am pleased by the action of the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors yesterday as they approved a memorial bench and plaque to be placed in Red Arrow Park honoring the memory of Dontre Hamilton.

The Board approved $3,000 for a bench with a plaque about Dontre’s immense legacy in the city (and nationally) and the importance of mental health care.

In 2015 when I was a member of the Board, I pushed for the memorial and to rename the park after Dontre. Pressure from veterans’ groups quashed the renaming proposal, and in May 2016, a Dontre Hamilton Memorial Planning Task Force convened by the county Parks Department recommended the installation of a bench and memorial plaque in the park, where Dontre was shot and killed by a Milwaukee Police officer in 2014 (the officer was later fired).

Dontre’s enormous impact on us has been palpable since his passing, and it is no surprise that after almost every incident of police violence or racial injustice, “Dontre Hamilton Park” has been the epicenter for almost every rally or protest march through Milwaukee (and the park has also hosted “Dontre Day” each year to remember his life and death).

Dontre very clearly continues to Rest In Power and his memory will now be forever honored in Red Arrow Park.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.