Editing Greg Mathis (section)

==Early life==
Mathis was born in [[Detroit|Detroit, Michigan]], to Charles Mathis, a [[Detroit]] native, and his wife, Alice Lee Mathis, a devoted [[Seventh-day Adventist Church|Seventh-day Adventist]], nurse's aide, and housekeeper. Alice (then divorced from Charles) raised Mathis alone in [[Detroit]] during the turbulent 1960s and 1970s. Mathis moved to [[Herman Gardens]] in 1964 and resided with family until roughly 1970.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2003/08/24/in-detroit-displaced-residents-still-waiting/dae0c38d-f5df-4ac4-8d27-84bcc51a3bf2/|title=In Detroit, Displaced Residents Still Waiting|last=Pierre|first=Robert|date=August 24, 2003|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=May 21, 2018}}</ref> They moved away from the housing complex to avoid rising drug use and rates of violent crime. Mathis was arrested several times as a juvenile delinquent, mainly for purse-snatching, breaking-and-entering, and robbery. He would eventually be arrested and put behind bars at age 17 for nine months for a concealed-weapons charge. While he was incarcerated in Wayne County Jail, his mother visited him and revealed she had [[Colorectal cancer|colon cancer]] so the judge overhearing his case would subsequently give him an ultimatum of G.E.D or jail time along with early probation.