And quite frankly, it’s his philanthropy that he’d like to be recognized for more than anything else he may have accomplished in his award-winning, history-making career. Instead of being known as the youngest judge in Michigan history, he wants you to know that he is working to turn around the lives of young people and ex-offenders both in and outside of the courtroom. That’s why he opened a community center in Detroit and has assisted thousands of youth with his nonprofit Young Adults Asserting Themselves, an agency that provides career, business start-up and job opportunities, as well as job training and college enrollment assistance.
Backstage at the eighth annual Steve Harvey Ford Hoodie Awards in Las Vegas Aug. 28–29, Mathis eagerly shared the many programs that he has in place to give former inmates the best possible chance to be successfully reintegrated into society.
“I’m doing a PEER initiative and that is Prisoners Educated for Empowerment and Respect. I’ve been to six prisons, providing motivation and assistance to those who are incarcerated and are on their way home. In post-incarceration we have a variety of programs. So far we are in 20 states. You can go to www.askjudgemathis.com to find out more information,” he says.
Mathis, a former prolific criminal who was in and out of jail as a young man coming up in the Motor City, knows firsthand that you can overcome a checkered past and live a very successful life. That he is working to do the same for others gives him infinitely more joy than his celebrity status.
“Thanks for recognizing the work that I do,” he told rolling out. “And to me that’s more important than, quite frankly, the entertainment that I provide.”
–terry shropshire
