“I know people can change, and obstacles can be overcome, because in my courtroom it happens every day,” declares Judge Greg Mathis with conviction at the opening of his popular courtroom drama show. His forceful and streetwise persona has been a source of inspiration for scores of young black offenders who adhere to his call for change.
Whether he’s admonishing an offender, encouraging a victim or delivering a roof-raising speech as he did when accepting his Trumpet Award Man of the Year honor where he condemned the industrial prison complex, Mathis continues to a catalyst for change in his community. But it’s his philanthropic endeavors that the renowned judge would like to be recognized for, more than anything else he has accomplished in his remarkable career. And it’s his heartfelt commitment to turn around the lives of young people and ex-offenders both in and outside of the courtroom that endears him to so many.
“I’m doing a PEER initiative, and that is Prisoners Educated for Empowerment and Respect. I [visit] prisons, to provide 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,” he says.
The popular jurist has also opened a community center in Detroit, assisted thousands of youth with his nonprofit organization, Young Adults Asserting Themselves, to provide career, business start-up and job opportunities, as well as job training and college enrollment assistance.
In honor of his years of work and commitment to his hometown of Detroit, the city honored Mathis by naming one of the streets in the Herman Gardens public housing projects where he grew up Mathis Avenue. Recently, as he has in years past, Mathis cosponsored the Herman Gardens Reunion for residents to get reacquainted and to renew his ties with the community.
Unlike other reality show television judges, Mathis’ claim to fame stems from another reality — he at one time stood on the other side of the bench and the law. As a teen growing up in Detroit he was labeled a repeat offender and spent significant time behind bars. But after becoming a protégé of Detroit’s most famous mayor, Coleman Young, Mathis worked in city government as an advocate for the disadvantaged and the disenfranchised. He eventually became the youngest judge in Michigan history.
Another of Mathis’ most engaging and notable qualities is his genuine love for Detroiters and the city that made him. Mathis, in fact, knows his city so well that he has even been able to discern when Detroiters appear before him in his courtroom — as he says, “It takes one to know one and I recognize my folks.” –roz edward
