Black MBA - Winter 2007/2008 - (Page 50) EDUCATION Profile Judge Glenda A. Hatchett Reality TV Star, Author, Advocate – All on One Bench By Shirley Henderson THE HONORABLE JUDGE Glenda A. Hatchett is sitting in silence in her quiet courtroom, listening intently to a mother speaking with fear and concern about her son’s fascination with Hitler, the Ku Klux Klan and other hate groups. In her trademark introspective way, Judge Hatchett removes her glasses and peers at the exhibit before her: crudely written messages on sheets of paper taken from the young man’s bedroom wall. One piece of paper is emblazoned with a giant swastika surrounded by messages such as “Screw the niggers,” “KKK” and “Nazi power.” 50 BlackMBA • Winter 2007/2008 • www.nbmbaa.org “Do you know how many Jewish people died at Hitler’s hand?” she asks the young man who wrote the slurs. Judge Hatchett then sends him off to the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles, where he gets a history lesson on the Holocaust from a survivor of a concentration camp. Later, the judge explains her reasoning to the young man, who says he has been changed forever by the experience. “I don’t want your heart to be consumed by [racial hatred],” she tells him in a stern, yet genuinely concerned voice. “I’m pulling for you. Come on up here.” Leaning forward, she gives the young man a firm handshake that might as well be a hug. The effect is the same. Viewers familiar with Judge Hatchett, a nationally syndicated television program now in its eighth season, have come to know the woman who presides over this courtroom as a compassionate but tough administrator of justice, especially when it comes to dealing with young people. Her likeability is in her approach. She’s like the no-nonsense aunt you really can’t avoid – especially when you’ve done wrong and you know that she knows it. Critics may say her TV show, like other reality courtroom shows, wastes time with paternity cases revolving around “baby mama and baby daddy” drama. But whatever is on the day’s docket, Judge Hatchett – impeccably groomed with smooth, bobbed hair and flawless makeup – is always ready to hand down a just and judicious ruling. Whether you love her or hate her, you’ll remain transfixed to her show. http://www.nbmbaa.org
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