By Princess Safiya Byers Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service Published Aug 18, 2024 at 8:01 PM

Darnell Hamilton has spent most of his professional career serving students and families from the classroom.

But for the last two years, as the executive director of Future Urban Leaders, he has been making his mark on Milwaukee’s youths outside of it.

Through after-school and summer enrichment programming, Future Urban Leaders works with students, their families and the community to create opportunities.

“I want students to recognize what it is about themselves that helps them stand out from everyone else,” Hamilton said.

A part of the village

Before Future Urban Leaders, Hamilton, 39, spent 10 years as a teacher in the Milwaukee Public Schools.

But neither teaching nor Milwaukee was in his original plan.

Hamilton came to Milwaukee from Chicago to study marketing at Marquette University in 2002. He went back to Chicago after obtaining his marketing degree in 2006.

Looking for a change in profession and tapping into his passion for children, he landed back in Milwaukee in 2012 through Teach for America.

Teach for America is a nonprofit organization that recruits and trains recent college graduates and professionals to teach in low-income communities across the United States.

Though Milwaukee wasn’t his first choice, he was placed at James Madison Academic Campus, 8135 W. Florist Ave. Now, Hamilton feels embraced by Milwaukee and calls the city his home away from home.

“I might not be from Milwaukee, but I am of Milwaukee,” he said. “I’ve been here for 12 years. I am a homeowner. I’m entrenched, and y’all can’t get rid of me.”

Daring to be different

Hamilton said since childhood, he’s been different. From primary school to his time at Marquette to his role as a teacher, being an outsider was a part of his identity.

However, he used that identity as a way to connect with students and their families.

“Whether it was me carrying around three yardsticks taped together because I’m a math teacher, or riding my bike through the school hall, being myself allowed me to create relationships,” Hamilton said.

Standing out benefited not only Hamilton but those who needed to see someone like him.

Jamiya Washington, 22, met Hamilton her freshman year at Golda Meir High School, 227 W. Pleasant St. She said she knew he was different from all her other teachers within the first week of meeting him.

“Mr. Hamilton was the first Black male teacher I ever had,” Washington said. “And he technically wasn’t even my teacher. I was never in his class. He’s just always offered genuine guidance.”

"He’s a gift to students"

Now, years after graduating high school, Washington is a social worker who will be receiving a master’s degree in a month, and the two still keep in touch.

“He’s like an older family member or mentor that will walk you through a process or let you bounce ideas off of him,” Washington said. “And I know he’s only a phone call away.”

Hamilton said his approach was: “You birthed the student and we (educators) nurture the student.”

But their growth is a partnership between the student, their family and their educators.

“I just think he’s a gift to students and it’s a gift to know him and have him in my corner,” Washington said.

Serina Jamison met Hamilton the summer of 2019 while they were both working for Teach for America. Now the program director for Future Urban Leaders, she said she sees how his openness shines through.

“Darnell is open to meet anyone and everyone,” she said. “He is student-centered but values the community and is willing to hear anyone out and work with them when he can.”

Jamison also said Hamilton is a “passionate and reflective educator dedicated to the improvement of education.”

Hamilton refers to himself as a collector of people.

“I think of myself as someone who learns a lot from partners. And those are people that I want to keep in my world as closely as possible,” Hamilton said. “Whether it be a child, whether it be an adult.”