CHICAGO (NewsNation) — Judge Greg Mathis has ruled on cases for more than two decades, but the life lessons he’s learned before on the other side of the bend continue to inspire people across the U.S. Now, his story is headed to the stage.
Mathis, who led the syndicated “Judge Mathis” for 24 seasons from 1999 to 2023, will share his life story in “Don’t Judge Me,” a film and stage play set to premiere Nov. 10 – Nov. 12 at John Ruffin’s Theatre 47 in Park Forest, Illinois.
This will be the second time Mathis shares his story on stage. He said several people brought the idea of sharing his story to him.
“Folks thought it was interesting. The great playwright Ron Milner was first. He was a protege of Langston Hughes, so I was very honored that he would approach me with it. We toured about 26 cities; this one we intend to do about 20,” Mathis said.
Mathis said he’s going on tour again due to the impact of the first tour.
“Mothers, single mothers, and troubled youth or youth on the edge would always approach me — “I came to your play, and thanks for your story. It really inspired me to change my life,'” Mathis said.
He added: ‘Those types of responses, both from the television show over 24 years. That stage production let me know that I gotta come back out and do it, because there’s a whole new generation that didn’t know that, and that’s what I found surprising.”
Before Mathis started presiding over courtrooms, he served time in jail after being caught with a weapon while growing up in Detroit, but that time helped him transform his life.
“In my housing projects, you were either prey or predator. I didn’t want to be prey, but I wasn’t one to look for trouble with a weapon,” he said.
Mathis said he was raised by a single mother who had four boys in a housing project in Detroit, but he was able to recover due to having a dedicated mother, which is part of the message he gives to parents.
“Force feed a sense of morality and spirituality is what my mother did. Forced us to go to church three times a week, hated it. Forced us to sit around that table after school and do homework, hated it,” Mathis explained. “She worked two jobs; however, and we lived in tough housing projects so the time she left, all hell broke loose. But that structure stayed with us.”
Mathis said he decided to become a judge to “change lives.”
“One of my motives then was to defend troubled youth to try and get them second chances from the judges. Well, that wouldn’t work when I was practicing law. We had all the judges who didn’t believe in second chances. So, I said, I’ll run myself there, and so that’s why I became a judge. I ran so I could change lives.”
Mathis has also written an autobiography titled “Inner City Miracle.”