Judge Greg Mathis was elected to Michigan's 36th District Court in 1995. His election became a national success story and a symbol of hope for urban youth who are struggling to overcome the modern-day pressures and hardships of poverty, drugs and violence. A former street youth and high school dropout, Mathis' lawlessness brought him before a judge who cared, a judge who ordered the teenaged dropout to get a G.E.D. or face jail time. He obtained his G.E.D. as ordered by the judge and went on to become a committed civil rights activist, public servant and the youngest elected judge in the state of Michigan. Currently he is the star of Warner Brothers', "Judge Mathis."
Judge Mathis' civil rights and public service career began at Eastern Michigan University where he led the "Free South Africa" and voter registration campaigns on campus. In 1983, after graduating from college, he joined the staff of Detroit City Councilman Clyde Cleveland and continued his civil rights activities as an activist with Reverend Jesse Jackson's Operation P.U.S.H. In 1986 through 1993 he worked for legendary Detroit Mayor Coleman A. Young as Manager of Detroit Neighborhood City Halls.
Judge Mathis is committed to helping troubled youth in and out of the courtroom. In 1986, Mathis and his wife co-founded Young Adults Asserting Themselves (Y.A.A.T.), a non-profit youth agency that serves thousands of young people. The foundation counsels youth from the ages of 17-25 about career and job opportunities, provides job training, and offers school and job placement services. The foundation has also opened four pre-schools in Detroit. In his various fundraising efforts, Mathis has raised and/or donated over $2 million for a variety of civil rights, political, church and youth causes.
Judge Mathis' has been featured in many local and national newspapers and television interviews including in Ebony, Jet, Upscale and People Magazines and the television affiliates of ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, BET and CNN. He has appeared with Jay Leno on the Tonight Show, and on Rosie O' Donnell, the Today Show and Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher. He has received more than 100 awards and has been honored by numerous governors, mayors, City Councils and state legislatures. His inspirational story of a young man who rose from delinquent to Detroit District Court Judge is chronicled in his autobiography "Inner City Miracle" released in October 2002 by One World Books, a subsidiary of Random House.
Greg is a lifetime member of the NAACP, the Rainbow P.U.S.H. Coalition and is a national board member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (S.C.L.C.). He is married and the father of four.
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Saturday, September 3rd 2005 at 8:21PM
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