Ponce Clay is a decorated military veteran, an accomplished attorney, and a holder of several degrees, and though he’s not a preacher, one wouldn’t be mistaken if they assumed there was a theological or divinity title in there somewhere.
After a 20-minute address at Oak Grove African Methodist Church on Detroit’s west side – can’t quite call it a sermon if the person in the pulpit isn’t licensed to preach – Clay accepted one more title: Judge, during an investiture ceremony where he was officially welcomed by a slate of Black judges representing Detroit’s 36th District Court, where he will now serve, and other local and state courts.
“I can’t recall a more extraordinary candidate to present to the governor,” said Wayne County Probate Judge Terrance Keith, one of many speakers to introduce the newly benched Clay to an audience of roughly 300 attendees packing the pews, overflowing the parking lot at Oak Grove for a Saturday afternoon event that rivaled its regular Sunday attendance. “I recognize the tortured history that Black judges have had in this country. And for those who think those days are long gone, look now.”
Clay’s appointment was announced late last year by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who also named Chastity Youngblood and Herman Griffin IV to the bench at 36th. And while investiture ceremonies – a public swearing-in or some other confirmation that’s more boisterous than bureaucratic – aren’t required, more and more local public officials are taking those opportunities to make splashy introductions to an audience.
“You are all on the committee to retain Judge Ponce Clay,” retired Michigan Court of Appeals Judge Cynthia Diane Stephens told the audience, lending to both the celebratory and political nature of publicinvestitures, as seat fillers can also be future voters.
Clay grew up a “first-generation Detroiter,” born on the east side to parents who both migrated to the city from Mississippi. “At that time, [Detroit] had the best public schools in the nation,” he said. “That’s the system that empowered me, and that’s the system that produced me.”
His upbringing that blended Southern values, blue-collar pride (his father, upon arriving in Detroit, went straight to a car plant, he said) and a melting pot of other folks arriving in the Motor City for similar reasons would show him how to “lead with diversity” in his legal career later. “In Detroit, you move among ‘differents’ – different cultures, different ambitions, different challenges.”
After high school, Clay spent several years in the Navy. “You don’t know how insignificant you can feel while you’re at sea,” he said, “And you think to yourself, ‘if God takes care of these crickets and these birds and this grass, and I’m out here feeling how small I feel, why not me?’ And it’s when it’s so quiet that you hear the loudest of God almighty.”
Clay then went on to earn an bachelor’s degree from Morehouse College in Atlanta, citing an inspiration in Judge George Crockett III, another alumnus of the all-male HBCU. Clay went on to earn two more advanced degrees before going to law school and graduating from University of Detroit Mercy School of Law.
Prior to Whitmer’s appointment, Clay was founder and partner of Clay Law, PLC. A member of Omega Psi Phi, the Detroit area’s Morehouse alumni chapter, a board member of City of Detroit Brownfield Redevelopment Authority Community Advisory Committee, and a member of Oak Grove, Clay’s community service and achievements were brought forth by a number of speakers from all stages of his life.
“When I first met him, he said, ‘Ponce.’ I said, ‘Ponce? Like the fountain of youth? Because he looks so young,” said former State Sen. Marshall Bullock, representing Detroit’s Black greeks as a member Omega Psi Phi.
Clay’s appointment finishes out a partial term following the resignation of 36th Judge Donald Coleman and expires January 1, 2027.
“Service isn’t a slogan, it’s a mandate,” he said. “Justice means fairness without fear or favor. And in Detroit, it means understanding the lived reality of the people who walk into this courtroom every day.”
You can reach Aaron at afoley@michronicle.com.
