Mathis was born in Detroit, Michigan on April 5,1960. He is the fourth of four boys born to Alice Mathis, a devoted Seventh-day Adventist, nurse's aide, and housekeeper. Mathis was raised by Alice and her second husband, a local defense attorney in Detroit during the turbulent 1960s and 1970s.Mathis' real father was estranged from him, but associated closely with the Errol Flynns, a past notorious Detroit street gang, that Mathis would eventually join while a teenager. In the 1970s, he was arrested numerous times. While incarcerated in Wayne County Jail, as a seventeen year old juvenile, his mother visited him and broke the news that she was diagnosed with colon cancer. Mathis was offered early probation because of his step-father's status.
Once out of jail, Mathis began working at McDonalds, a job he had to maintain or violate probation and go back to jail. 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 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. He also became a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
Mathis 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 graduated from the University of Detroit Mercy in 1987. In 1995, he was elected a superior court judge for Michigan's 36th District, making him the youngest person 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.
Mathis began his political career as an unpaid intern, and then 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 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.
Mathis was appointed head of Jesse Jackson's Presidential campaign in the state of Michigan in 1988. 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.
Mathis has continued to be involved in politics after rising to national entertainment prominence through his television show. Urban politics and African-American movements have been his focus. He has been a guest speaker for black trade union conferences, such as the A. Phillip Randolph Institute’s National Educational Conference on Social Justice and he was an on stage guest during the Nation of Islam’s Savior Day conference in Detroit’s Ford Field in 2007.
Mathis asked for the resignation of Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick after the Wayne County Prosecutor indicted Kilpatrick and his former top aide, Christine Beatty, on perjury, conspiracy, obstruction of justice and misconduct in office charges. Mathis spoke out after he was falsely named in an Associated Press wire story to have co-founded a legal defense fund for Kilpatrick.[4] The statement released by Greg Mathis stated: "I was contacted Wednesday afternoon by Mayor Kilpatrick. He asked if I could serve on his legal defense committee. I informed him, I support due process, but I could not support him. This is the same type of deceit that has plunged our city into a deep crisis. Not only do I not support him, but I recommend he resign so the city can heal and move forward."
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