Discuss Detroit » Archives - January 2008 » Awerage White Band @ Cobo Arena « Previous Next »
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Wirt
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Username: Wirt

Post Number: 76
Registered: 12-2005
Posted on Wednesday, January 09, 2008 - 5:30 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Does anybody remember the night when the Average White Band played Cobo Arena?

http://www.randomhouse.com/acm art/catalog/display.pperl?isbn =9780345446428&view=excerpt
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Kathinozarks
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Username: Kathinozarks

Post Number: 1034
Registered: 11-2006
Posted on Wednesday, January 09, 2008 - 6:06 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Why is Greg Mathis bragging about his crimes?

I hope all the people who he stole from come to him for what is rightfully theirs.

I hate to say it, but since the excerpt didn't include a thing about any remorse he feels now, I would have to dislike this man quite a bit.

This excerpt was disturbing to me. What an idiot.
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Flyingj
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Username: Flyingj

Post Number: 73
Registered: 08-2006
Posted on Wednesday, January 09, 2008 - 6:49 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I remember that-you read stuff like that & no longer wonder why Detroit is a dead city-robbing people at a CONCERT? No wonder the Silverdome replaced the Cobo on tours. There seems to be a fair amount of boasting in Judge Joe's memories-he even misspelled "Borsalino". I thought the Errol Flynn's wore applejack hats?
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Kathleen
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Username: Kathleen

Post Number: 2698
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Posted on Wednesday, January 09, 2008 - 8:08 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I never made it into Cobo Arena that evening! My girlfriend and I were waiting in line to get in when her ticket was stolen right out of her hand!! We did everything we could to make sure that the thief didn't get through the gate (and he didn't), and then we found a sympathetic concertgoer with an extra ticket and were able to work out a trade and purchase so that we had two seats together. But then the gates were closed due to the rioting inside, and we were told to leave as the concert was cancelled, so we left without hearing a note! (I understand that the warmup act Kool and the Gang were onstage when the rioting started, so AWB never hit the stage.)

My friend and I had no idea what actually was happening inside and so we walked back around Cobo to the west parking lots (the ones used by the Riverfront Ethnic Festivals), got in my car, and left. We went to a local bar to dance and drink until after midnight. Boy, did I get in trouble when I finally got home that night! My dad had seen the 11 o'clock news reports and had no idea where I was. I had no idea that there was that kind of trouble and that anyone would be worried about me! I never thought to call home at all.

Anyways, good things come from bad...I was able to get a refund for that show, and I used the money to buy tickets to another concert and asked this cute guy I had met a few weeks earlier to go with me...yes, it was the Grillmaster...and you know the rest of the story!
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Dds
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Username: Dds

Post Number: 504
Registered: 10-2006
Posted on Wednesday, January 09, 2008 - 8:22 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

quote:

There seems to be a fair amount of boasting in Judge Joe's memories-he even misspelled "Borsalino".



Funny, Judge Greg spelled it the same way they do on the Borsalino web site.

http://www.borsalino.com/
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Eric
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Username: Eric

Post Number: 1071
Registered: 11-2004
Posted on Thursday, January 10, 2008 - 2:33 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

quote:

Why is Greg Mathis bragging about his crimes?

I hope all the people who he stole from come to him for what is rightfully theirs.

I hate to say it, but since the excerpt didn't include a thing about any remorse he feels now, I would have to dislike this man quite a bit.

This excerpt was disturbing to me. What an idiot




He not bragging about it. It's his memoir is he not supposed to mention it?
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Flyingj
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Post Number: 75
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Posted on Thursday, January 10, 2008 - 3:55 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Hmmm, I'll give you that Dds-but where's their applejack hats? And after listening to"Stagger Lee" on the drive home I gotta wonder-why are gangsters hung up on hats, anyway?

Eric, maybe you're not picking up on the tone we are, considering it doesn't have the same ring as, say, the Confessions of St. Augustine
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Pam
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Username: Pam

Post Number: 3267
Registered: 11-2005
Posted on Thursday, January 10, 2008 - 7:12 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

quote:

Eric, maybe you're not picking up on the tone we are, considering it doesn't have the same ring as, say, the Confessions of St. Augustine



He is putting himself back into the person he was then who thought he was a bad ass so the reader gets a sense of that. Since he turned his life around and doesn't do crime anymore, I don't think you can interpret that as "bragging". It's descriptive writing.
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Pffft
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Username: Pffft

Post Number: 1439
Registered: 12-2003
Posted on Thursday, January 10, 2008 - 8:34 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Maybe one of the folks he robbed could recognize themselves and press a civil suit ...

Like Harry Kosins' (he spelled it "Cousins") heirs, for the stolen Borsalino hats.
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Dds
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Post Number: 505
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Posted on Thursday, January 10, 2008 - 3:04 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

quote:

but where's their applejack hats?



Hell if I know. Maybe they didn't wear them that night. It's not my memoirs.
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Dannyv
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Username: Dannyv

Post Number: 73
Registered: 08-2007
Posted on Thursday, January 10, 2008 - 9:40 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

For Hallowe'en that year I dressed up like an Errol Flynn gangster and won 1st prize in a costume contest. It was the scariest thing you could be that Hallowe'en; young, black and a gang member.
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Kathinozarks
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Username: Kathinozarks

Post Number: 1044
Registered: 11-2006
Posted on Thursday, January 10, 2008 - 9:51 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

He only has to answer to God, I guess.

I just feel bad for the victims of his "bad ass" days.

To a normal, non-violent human such as myself his recollection seems braggadocious, not humble and full of remorse for his past bad deeds.

Anyone may feel free to disagree.
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Flanders_field
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Username: Flanders_field

Post Number: 8
Registered: 01-2008
Posted on Thursday, January 10, 2008 - 11:20 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

For the sum of $29.95 for your very own crisp new copy, one can find out if Mathis has any remorse for his participation in this particular gang-related criminal incident.

He should donate the entire proceeds from the sale of his autobiography to those victimized by violent crimes, IMO.
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Wirt
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Username: Wirt

Post Number: 77
Registered: 12-2005
Posted on Friday, January 11, 2008 - 9:03 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

It is hard to believe that the judge is a current tv celebrity!

I just remember how this event changed the mindset of a lot of suburban parents at the time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G reg_Mathis
http://www.askjudgemathis.com/
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Pam
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Username: Pam

Post Number: 3276
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Posted on Friday, January 11, 2008 - 9:15 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

quote:

To a normal, non-violent human such as myself his recollection seems braggadocious, not humble and full of remorse for his past bad deeds.

Anyone may feel free to disagree



Maybe he shows remorse elsewhere in the book. How can you tell by only reading a small part of it? Anyway the facts of him turning his life totally around should speak for themselves.
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Chuckjav
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Username: Chuckjav

Post Number: 335
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Posted on Friday, January 11, 2008 - 2:29 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Judge Greg's memory fails him; the incident took place in 1976....I remember the events of that night precisely as Mr. Mathis describes.

He (curiously) left out the details of rape and torture that took place.

This man, his friends, and their associates are part and parcel responsible for the demise of our city; on the streets, in the schools, and so forth.

He then has the audacious stupidity to mention his misdeeds....memoiors be damned!

I challenge this asshole to a death-duel.
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Fury13
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Username: Fury13

Post Number: 3543
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Posted on Friday, January 11, 2008 - 2:37 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

A good friend of mine and his date (a platonic friend who wanted to see the concert) attended that show. I remember it as being 1976. He related how he had an expensive camera snatched, strap and all, from around his neck by a gang member. As I recall, he also said there was at least one incident of a girl being surrounded by gang members and raped. Evidently a lot more of the same went on outside the arena before the looting started.

As I remember it, he said that AWB got on stage and maybe played one or two numbers before the concert was aborted.

My friend and his date managed to get out of there without further incident, but there was a lot of surrounding chaos.

It seemed at the time that the world had suddenly gotten very dangerous and that downtown Detroit was indeed a very bad place to be.
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Jt1
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Username: Jt1

Post Number: 11191
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Posted on Friday, January 11, 2008 - 2:43 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

So given his track record of contributing to issues in the city does he do anything to give back? Youth mentoring, financial donations, etc?
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Kathleen
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Username: Kathleen

Post Number: 2704
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Posted on Friday, January 11, 2008 - 2:47 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Definitely August 1976.
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Chuckjav
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Post Number: 336
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Posted on Friday, January 11, 2008 - 2:51 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Fury13....you are correct - AWB did begin their set; moments later they were forced from the stage by Mathis and his friends.

Jt1....I'm not sure what you're driving at but, correct me if I'm wrong, Mathis never paid for his crimes - until he does so, he is dog shit in my book.
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Pam
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Username: Pam

Post Number: 3278
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Posted on Friday, January 11, 2008 - 2:52 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

quote:

So given his track record of contributing to issues in the city does he do anything to give back? Youth mentoring, financial donations, etc?



From one of the links above:


quote:

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.

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Fury13
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Post Number: 3547
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Posted on Friday, January 11, 2008 - 2:54 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Upon further research, the correct concert date seems to have been 8/15/76.
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Pam
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Username: Pam

Post Number: 3279
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Posted on Friday, January 11, 2008 - 2:55 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

quote:

Jt1....I'm not sure what you're driving at but, correct me if I'm wrong, Mathis never paid for his crimes



From another link above:

quote:

In the 1970s, he was arrested numerous times. Yet when incarcerated in Wayne County Jail, as a seventeen year old juvenile, his mother visited him and broke the tragic news that she was diagnosed with colon cancer. This event changed Mathis, and he was given the benefit of a considerate judge, who offered probation if he enrolled and passed a G.E.D. course in six months.

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Chuckjav
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Post Number: 337
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Posted on Friday, January 11, 2008 - 3:03 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Statute of Limitations notwithstanding, I hope and pray that anyone and everyone who filed a police report after the AWB concert joins together as one to file a civil suit against Greg Mathis.

End of My Ranting
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Jt1
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Post Number: 11192
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Posted on Friday, January 11, 2008 - 3:04 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Thanks for the info Pam. Seems he has certainly done the right thing(s) as an adult.
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Iheartthed
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Username: Iheartthed

Post Number: 2505
Registered: 04-2006
Posted on Friday, January 11, 2008 - 3:37 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

quote:

Statute of Limitations notwithstanding, I hope and pray that anyone and everyone who filed a police report after the AWB concert joins together as one to file a civil suit against Greg Mathis.

End of My Ranting



Grandstanding much?

I think it's safe to say that Judge Mathis has contributed thousands of hours and dollars to community service for every judgmental comment in this thread.
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Lefty2
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Username: Lefty2

Post Number: 883
Registered: 07-2007
Posted on Friday, January 11, 2008 - 3:42 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Just another example of why people left Detroit.
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Kathinozarks
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Username: Kathinozarks

Post Number: 1050
Registered: 11-2006
Posted on Saturday, January 12, 2008 - 1:50 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

My post 1034 includes this:

"I hate to say it, but since the excerpt didn't include a thing about any remorse he feels now, I would have to dislike this man quite a bit."

I will not say nice things about a man who brought sadness and fear into innocent people's lives and then recalls it in print in such a cavalier manner.

I stand by my thoughts.
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Barnesfoto
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Username: Barnesfoto

Post Number: 4645
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Posted on Saturday, January 12, 2008 - 2:09 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

"I will not say nice things about a man who brought sadness and fear into innocent people's lives and then recalls it in print in such a cavalier manner."

Agreed, last time I saw Judge Mathis, he was having a cordial conversation with Alonzo Bates...

Of course, you could say the same thing about any of the Bush Crime Gang...Did Neal Bush ever express regret about the S&L Scam? Did Poppy ever express regret about Iran Contra or funding Manuel Noriega? Which of the Neo-connies has expressed regret for Eye-rack war fiasco?
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Eric
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Username: Eric

Post Number: 1078
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Posted on Saturday, January 12, 2008 - 2:42 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

quote:

I will not say nice things about a man who brought sadness and fear into innocent people's lives and then recalls it in print in such a cavalier manner.

I stand by my thoughts.



He was recounting his thoughts when this took place. Did you even bother find out what the rest of the book was about? No, you'd simply rather be judgmental and deem him a bad person. If you can't say nice things about someone who went from being a criminal to a member of law enforcement community who can you say nice things about?

Since you're clearly too lazy to bother here is an overview of the book

quote:

Synopsis
Millions have seen him on his nationwide TV show, dispensing justice in his own charismatic style. But Judge Greg Mathis's own rise to success has been a trial by fire. In this truly candid memoir, his harrowing life on both sides of the law is revealed for the first time.

It starts in Detroit—but far from the court where Greg would one day preside. Raised in the hell of the Herman Garden Projects, he grows to become a "bad-ass, cool-dressing, do-anything gangsta." His father gone, his mother juggling two jobs, he falls in with the Errol Flynns—"funkified English gentlemen" in three-piece suits and Borsalino hats, urban Robin Hoods who are truly stylish as they steal from everyone and give to themselves.

Considered bright but incorrigible, Greg is sent to stay in his middle-class cousin's mixed neighborhood, where he enlists the local white youth in wrongdoing. Even jail can't keep him from going bad again once he gets out. Then a threat to his beloved mother causes a shaken Greg to make a promise in a prayer to God: save my mother and I will straighten up.

To his and everyone else's surprise, he keeps his side of the bargain. Inspired by The Autobiography of Malcolm X, working at McDonald's by day and attending classes by night, Greg pulls himself through high school and college and then law school, using in positive ways the innate intelligence that made him a master at crime. Soon he becomes the youngest judge in Michigan history, a District Court judge and, at last, undaunted by the odds and propelled by his personal story, a sought-after and highly paid TV star.

In its blunt, bold, and sometimes hair-raising honesty, InnerCity Miracle is both a cautionary and an inspiring story, one sure to stun all those who come to Judge Mathis's TV courtroom every day.

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Chuckjav
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Username: Chuckjav

Post Number: 338
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Posted on Saturday, January 12, 2008 - 7:54 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Bottom Line:

Unless you've been on the receiving end of multiple ass-kickings for the "crime" of being white....unless you've been robbed, raped, or terrorized - you have no business defending an admitted thug.
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Thejesus
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Username: Thejesus

Post Number: 3220
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Posted on Saturday, January 12, 2008 - 9:07 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

God damn, I hate these fake TV judges with a passion...thanks to stupid day-time TV, these clowns are the face of the American legal system to much of the uneducated public...

And this one...not only does he have this lengthy prior criminal history, but he failed the bar exam once and people of Detroit put him on the bench anyway...seriously, Detroit couldn't find a better candidate than this?
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Kathinozarks
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Username: Kathinozarks

Post Number: 1051
Registered: 11-2006
Posted on Saturday, January 12, 2008 - 10:32 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

"If you can't say nice things about someone who went from being a criminal to a member of law enforcement community who can you say nice things about?"

---------------

There are, at the very least, hundreds of people whom I can say nice things about.
Also, my impression of this man based on the excerpt you so kindly posted for my edification has not changed. I find nothing in it which turns my head around. Maybe you could keep reading the book and continue to post the parts that you think make him someone I should look up to.
I stand by my impressions of this man at this time.
-------------
"Since you're clearly too lazy to bother here is an overview of the book"

Eric, I've read my posts on this thread and nowhere do I say a negative thing about this man (or you). Your name-calling is juvenile.

I simply say I cannot say a nice thing about him based on what I've read. You don't need to worry, I don't think my opinion will cause him or his millions of dollars even one minute's of sleep.
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Kathinozarks
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Username: Kathinozarks

Post Number: 1052
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Posted on Saturday, January 12, 2008 - 10:33 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Barnes, I'm not a big fan of the Bush Crime Gang either. Scary bunch of people.
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Kathinozarks
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Post Number: 1053
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Posted on Saturday, January 12, 2008 - 10:39 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

This is the entire Wikipedia page. I don't consider W to be the best of information sources, but the time-line is there.:

Mathis was born in Detroit, the fourth of four boys born to Alice Mathis, a devoted Seventh-day Adventist, nurses aide, housekeeper and single mother. Mathis was both victim and beneficiary of the rich mix of African-American culture found in Detroit during the turbulent times of the 1960s and 1970s. He took inspiration from his older brothers and quickly learned to steal, cheat and lie to get what many young men in Detroit wanted: property, reputations, and female affection. But his mother's deep devotion to church and community rescued her son from total destruction, something many of his peers could not escape. From shooting at the Detroit Police from their housing project, to purse snatching in the white suburbs, to using and selling drugs, including heroin, his early life showed little promise, except for his mother's concern and tough love.


[edit] Teen years
Raised in the Herman Gardens housing project, Mathis was on the road to a criminal life as a teenager. His father was estranged from him, but associated closely with the Errol Flynns, a notorious Detroit street gang, that Mathis would eventually join while a teenager. In the 1970s, he was arrested numerous times. Yet when incarcerated in Wayne County Jail, as a seventeen year old juvenile, his mother visited him and broke the tragic news that she was diagnosed with colon cancer. This event changed Mathis, and he was given the benefit of a considerate judge, who offered probation if he enrolled and passed a G.E.D. course in six months.

Life did not completely change for Mathis after release, his use of drugs and criminal behavior continued, as did his close ties with fellow project 'homeboys', although it was moderated by his new dedication to academics and taking care of his ailing mother. Additionally, his first 'real' job, a job he thought humiliating at first, working at McDonalds, a job he had to maintain or violate probation and go back to jail, surprisingly inspired him. He liked his manager at McDonalds and his interaction with people of various ethnic and racial backgrounds defeated many of his ingrained prejudices, fears and stereotypes.

A close family friend helped Mathis get admitted to Eastern Michigan University, and he discovered a new interest in politics and public administration. He became a campus activist and worked for the Democratic Party, organizing several successful demonstrations against South African Apartheid policies. He graduated with a B.S. Public Administration from the Ypsilanti campus and began to seek employment in Detroit's City Hall. His mother's death was difficult for him to handle at first, but he met his eventual wife shortly after her passing and Linda, a fellow EMU student, and he would go on to have three children together. Mathis has a fourth child, born by a previous relationship with a woman he worked with and dated while working at City Hall[1]. All four kids were raised by Mathis.


[edit] Political career
Mathis began his political career as an unpaid intern, and his presence in Detroit's City Hall was insignificant until he became an assistant to Clyde Cleveland, a city council member. It was at this time Mathis took the LSAT and applied to law schools; he was fortunate enough to be conditionally admitted to the University of Detroit School of Law, which was located in downtown Detroit, walking distance from city hall. He passed a summer course and was officially admitted to the night program which took four years to complete.

His career prospered when he was appointed head of Jesse Jackson's Presidential campaign in the state of Michigan in 1988. Jackson won the Democratic primary, stunning eventual winner Michael Dukakis, and much of the nation. Mathis later became head of Mayor Coleman Young's re-election campaign and after the victory was appointed to run the city's east side city hall, a job that took much of his time, but made him certain he could make a difference in the lives of poor black people.


[edit] Judge Mathis
Main article: Judge Mathis
Mathis worked hard to win the judgeship in the city of Detroit. He had many obstacles to overcome. He had failed the Michigan bar exam once, and had been denied a license to practice law for several years after graduating from law school because of his criminal past. He had not accrued an extensive portfolio of legal work, and he was seen by the establishment as someone who lacked the necessary experience and insight to handle the hectic and heavy docket. Yet in 1995, he was elected a Detroit Recorder's Court judge for Michigan's 36th District, making him the youngest man in the state to hold the post. During the five years he was on the bench, he was rated in the top five of all judges in the 36th District; there are about thirty judges each year.

He was trying to have a movie made about his youth when a partner was contacted by Blackpearl Productions about starting a television show. He has been hosting a television series, Judge Mathis, since 1999, in which he mediates disputes and passes judgments in a civil court recognized by several states. In 2001, Mathis appeared in "1st Annual BET Awards" as himself. He also was a guest star as himself in the Steve Harvey show episode "Here Comes the Judge". Mathis has been parodied on Saturday Night Live by Tracy Morgan in the "Judge Horace" persona.




Mathis is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek letter fraternity established by African Americans.[2]


[edit] Notes
^ Mathis, Greg and Blair S. Walker. Inner City Miracle, Ballatine: New York, 2002
^ University of Detroit Mercy News. March 2006. Available online at: http://www.udmercy.edu/news_ev ents/inthenews/March%2006/3-31 -06_dearborn.pdf

[edit] Bibliography
Mathis, Greg and Blair S. Walker. Inner City Miracle, Ballatine: New York, 2002.
Mathis, Greg. "Black men must fight back against obstacles. (For Brothers Only). Ebony (magazine). February 1, 2007. vol
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Iheartthed
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Username: Iheartthed

Post Number: 2506
Registered: 04-2006
Posted on Saturday, January 12, 2008 - 10:42 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

quote:

Unless you've been on the receiving end of multiple ass-kickings for the "crime" of being white....unless you've been robbed, raped, or terrorized - you have no business defending an admitted thug.



This only happens to white people? M'kay.
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East_detroit
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Username: East_detroit

Post Number: 1398
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Posted on Saturday, January 12, 2008 - 10:48 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

How incredibly nice for you, Greg Mathis. Still looking for street cred to bolster your rep?

That incident caused more damage to the region than has been made up for by the work he has done here since. At least he's done something, rather than cause havoc and then just complain about Detroit from afar...

I wonder why we should congratulate people who came from a challenging background and hurt others and then got their acts together later... rather than congratulating those who came from similar backgrounds and did not turn to drugs or violence or crime and still made it out. Guess its more dramatic, but in my opinion it deserves far less respect.
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Pam
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Post Number: 3280
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Posted on Saturday, January 12, 2008 - 10:52 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Why don't you guys reserve your hatred for people who are still criminals now, not a guy who fucked up in his teen years but has now been straight for decades? Jeez, judgemental much?
What about reformed drug users or alcoholics? Should they be constantly derided for their past as well?
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Broken_main
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Username: Broken_main

Post Number: 1389
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Posted on Saturday, January 12, 2008 - 5:43 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Play that funky music white boy!
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Dds
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Username: Dds

Post Number: 510
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Posted on Saturday, January 12, 2008 - 6:37 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

quote:

What about reformed drug users or alcoholics? Should they be constantly derided for their past as well?



Citylover sure is. Granted he's opinionated and belligerent at times, but I've seen people on this board rip him a new one for just that reason.

quote:

but he failed the bar exam once and people of Detroit put him on the bench anyway



I'm willing to bet that there are 100's of lawyers in Michigan that have failed the bar more than once. An old roommate from college failed it twice before passing. I'm sure there are lawyers on this board that can attest to that.
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Chuckjav
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Post Number: 339
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Posted on Sunday, January 13, 2008 - 8:26 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

lheartthed....absolutely right; property crime and hate crime is indeed equal opportunity; never to be tolerated or rationalized.

Detroit is one of many places in the USA where black and white people have experienced hate crime; our Asian friends have also taken their share of ass-kickings in the Motor City.

So.....

It makes me quite angry when I read about some assneck "successful judge" who once perpetrated acts of terrorism at a rock concert, alongside fellow thugs who singled-out white people for extra-special attention.

I also don't care for the whimsical manner in which Judge Mathis describes his misdeeds.
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Dannyv
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Post Number: 74
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Posted on Sunday, January 13, 2008 - 5:19 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

If you want to gain some perspective on the incident, try substituting the race of the perpetrators with the race of most of the victims. We'd be calling it a Klan riot then and the man describing the proceedings wouldn't be let off so easily, especially in the tone he chooses to describe the incident.
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Citylover
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Username: Citylover

Post Number: 2835
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Posted on Sunday, January 13, 2008 - 6:20 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I feel like I've died and gone to heaven.........someone is defending me unsolicited on the forum......thank you.

Would some of you feel better had he(Mathis) simply omitted this incident? A brief paragraph or two perhaps? It is true some chastise me here from time to time. My thoughts are once anyone,myself included reveal things about themselves they(I) must simply accept the reactions and judgment of others.

The relevant thing here is that some people miraculously do turn things around. Of course the feelings of the direct victims may never be soothed to any satisfying degree....that is a burden and guilt that perpetrators must live with.
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Pffft
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Post Number: 1441
Registered: 12-2003
Posted on Sunday, January 13, 2008 - 7:08 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

It's not about whether or not he "turned himself around" in life, it's the unseemly glee he seems to take in describing the criminal acts he perpetuated at Cobo ...I know it wasn't quite as funny for the people who were there.

If he said "Yeah it seemed funny at the time but it clearly wasn't" or in some way showed some remorse, but you don't get that in that account.
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Vetalalumni
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Username: Vetalalumni

Post Number: 876
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Posted on Sunday, January 13, 2008 - 7:49 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

The apparent lack of remorse on the part of Judge Mathis has been noted several times. His response to this criticism would be interesting.
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Lefty2
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Username: Lefty2

Post Number: 894
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Posted on Sunday, January 13, 2008 - 9:06 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I can understand someone getting caught up in the gang life as a kid with your world turned upside down and very confused.
I think he is only trying to help kids not do what he did as a kid, not that I condone it on any level.
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Citylover
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Username: Citylover

Post Number: 2836
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Posted on Sunday, January 13, 2008 - 10:43 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Of course it is about turning his life around.........what the hell else could it possibly be about?

I think, and this is just my opinion that he is describing the incident from the point of view at the time it happened.

I love the dynamic of this forum. On one thread some poor band gets there shit ripped off in Detroit. The majority of responses are to blame the band for not having their trailer secured........even though no one knows whether it was or not.........or to have insurance, which no one knows if they did... and then there is this thread where in someone changed from bad to good and yet now there is sympathy for his victims.......confusing.
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Pffft
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Username: Pffft

Post Number: 1442
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Posted on Monday, January 14, 2008 - 12:46 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

CL says: "...yet now there is sympathy for his victims"...

And there's something wrong with sympathy for victims of crime??
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Bearinabox
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Username: Bearinabox

Post Number: 479
Registered: 04-2006
Posted on Monday, January 14, 2008 - 1:10 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

quote:

I think, and this is just my opinion that he is describing the incident from the point of view at the time it happened.

That was my impression as well. I'd have to read the entire book to be sure, though, and I've got better things to do with my time.
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Sailor_rick
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Username: Sailor_rick

Post Number: 201
Registered: 02-2004
Posted on Monday, January 14, 2008 - 3:33 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

The only reason I went that balmy night was my sister had a spare ticket.

During Kool and the Gang, people were falling over each other near the stage, arms flying in the air, which I presumed to be dance moves.
We were safely up in tier B watching the audience part as gang members streamed in during AWBs performance.

The house lights came on as the crowd headed to the exits. The craziest thing was, the band didn’t miss a beat as folding chairs flew past them on the stage! “Pick up the pieces, uh-huh.”

I clearly remember a burly security guard and a hood pummeling each other, their heads recoiling from the impact of their big fists.
I knew then this was some serious stuff as we made for the exits.

The crowd from the main floors eyes were as big as saucers as we made a slow run for the doors.
My sister’s date was an old Seaholm classmate, up from his small Tennessee town, who had never been downtown as an adult. He was actually laughing, presuming this was normal for a concert in Detroit.

Yeah, I look back now and I’m really ashamed about it, to actually admit going to an AWB concert and yet proudly displayed a “Disco Sucks-Boot Hill Salon” sticker on my skanked–out Ford LTD.

Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee where art thee?
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Summertime1
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Username: Summertime1

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Registered: 01-2008
Posted on Monday, January 28, 2008 - 7:13 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I was at this concert. it was the summer of 1976. After Cool and the Gang left the stag, AWB came on and the chairs on the main floor starting flying!! I was sitting on the upper side of the stage. The people i was with knew concert promoter. Bob Bageris. He let us backstage until all was clear. A woman was raped in the lobby of the Ponchatrain hotel. it was on all the news stations that evening. geri in st. clair shores
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Ray1936
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Username: Ray1936

Post Number: 2626
Registered: 01-2005
Posted on Monday, January 28, 2008 - 7:43 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Gee, rock is wonderful.

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