Trailblazing attorney and politician Billy Gene Mills died at his Leimert Park home in Los Angeles on June 27, according to his son James Edward Mills. The retired judge had been in declining health before his passing at the age of 96.
Originally from Waco, Texas. Mills was charismatic and accomplished before he moved west to earn an associate degree at Compton College. He then became the first African American graduate from UCLA Law School, circa 1954. Moving into civil rights and politics, he, along with Gilbert Lindsey and Thomas Bradley, became the first Blacks elected to the Los Angeles City Council in 1963. Committed to the betterment of the community, he pushed for the introduction of paved alleys and street lights in South Los Angeles and was chosen by his peers to be the de facto mayor after the landmark 1965 Watts uprising.
This stance put him at odds with the Los Angeles Police Department’s controversial Chief William H. Parker. Tasked with investigating the 1965 mayhem, he called for Parker to get approval from the mayor and other metropolitan hierarchy before issuing further statements to the press. That same year, he called for the chief’s accountability following a raid on a Black Muslim mosque. After a string of reelections, Mills was appointed to the Superior Court by then-Gov. Ronald W. Reagan in 1974, a surprise since they had a previously cordial, if oppositional, connection. Two years prior, he crossed party lines by endorsing Richard M. Nixon in the 1972 presidential race, showcasing his bipartisan ability.
During his two decades on the bench, Mills gained a reputation as a distinguished jurist committed to educating and mentoring those who stood before him. He also had the distinction of officiating at the wedding of Muhammad Ali.
A committed citizen after his retirement, Mills and his wife, the late Dr. Rubye Maurine Jackson, established an eponymous scholarship at his alma mater for L.A. public school products interested in law and political science.
Occidental College historian and scholar in residence Alison Rose Jefferson remembers him as instrumental in establishing a path for representation in Los Angeles.
“He was very vocal in terms of standing up for civil rights and human rights.”
Among those paying tribute to this titan of L.A. politics is current Mayor Karen Bass, who cited him as a “…jurist whose life helped shape the arc of justice and opportunity in our city.”
“As the first Black graduate of the UCLA School of Law and the first Black man elected to the Los Angeles City Council in 1963, alongside Tom Bradley, Mills broke barriers and helped open doors for generations of Angelenos,” she continued.
Mills is survived by five children, nine grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
