Billy G. Mills, a civil rights lawyer who became one of the first Black men elected to the Los Angeles City Council and later served as a respected judge, died June 27 at age 96 after declining health. His son, James Edward Mills, said he died peacefully at hi
Billy G. Mills died peacefully at his home in Leimert Park on June 27, his family said, closing the chapter on a life that helped shape Los Angeles at moments when change was not guaranteed.
Mills was 96. His son, James Edward Mills, confirmed that his father had been struggling with declining health. James, a journalist and founder of The Joy Trip Project, memorialized his father online and shared a photo of Mills shaking hands with Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
James said the image pointed to “the significance of those who work behind the scenes of world events that shape our reality.” In a longer tribute. he wrote that Mills was “the man who went to work every day. ” the man who expected his children to tell the truth. keep their word. and finish what they started. He added: “He believed that integrity was something you practiced when no one was watching.”.
Before politics, Mills worked as a civil rights lawyer. In 1963. he was elected to the Los Angeles City Council to represent District 8—the same year Tom Bradley was elected to District 10. Mills and Bradley were the first two Black men elected to the council. following behind Gilbert Lindsay. the first Black man appointed to fill Edward Roybal’s city council seat. James said Lindsay was also a close family friend.
Even after leaving office, James described his father as a man who stayed active and engaged. As the youngest child, James said he heard stories over the years about Mills’s impact and legacy. Only late in life did he learn his father officiated Muhammad Ali’s wedding.
One man who had worked as a city parking attendant while Mills worked in City Hall described him as “one of my favorite people there” after Mills came to his aid following an incident involving police officers. James said, “There are a lot of people in Los Angeles that still think very highly of my dad.”.
Mills helped lead the city in the aftermath of the Watts rebellion of 1965. His colleagues selected him to serve as acting mayor and president pro tem on multiple occasions. UCLA honored him in 2003 with a Public Service Award.
As part of the council. Mills also brought streetlights and paved alleys to his district. installing them throughout South L.A. UCLA later described his work as both political and personal. saying he “brought streetlights and paved alleys. ” and that “Just as he was a role model for black politicians. he also became one of the most respected black judges in California. whom lawyers and judges continue to emulate.” The university called Mills “truly one of UCLA’s greatest treasures.”.
Mills ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1972. He left the council when he hit term limits in 1974, and was then appointed to the Los Angeles Superior Court by then-Gov. Ronald Reagan, despite their opposing politics, James said.
He was born in Waco, Tex., grew up there, and attended school. After high school, he moved to Los Angeles and studied at Compton College before transferring to UCLA. At UCLA, Mills became the first Black graduate of the UCLA Law School. He met his wife Rubye at UCLA. They had five children together. Rubye died in 2018.
Mills’s influence reached far beyond City Hall, as Los Angeles’s political landscape began to shift. Alison Rose Jefferson. a historian who authored the book “Living the California Dream: African American Leisure Sites during the Jim Crow Era. ” said Mills was part of “the first wave of Black politicians in L.A. paving the way for more Black representation at the city and state level.” Jefferson called it “a really historic moment for Los Angeles. ” and said Mills “was very vocal in terms of standing up for civil rights and human rights.”.
In his online tribute, James linked his own work to the lessons he said his parents taught him. He wrote that they taught him “the pursuit of justice and the aspiration to understand” are. at their heart. “the same journey: to see people fully. to listen carefully. and to leave the world better than you found it.”.
Mills is survived by five children, nine grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. The Dr. Rubye and Judge Billy G. Mills Scholarship at UCLA supports undergraduate students interested in studying education or law.
Billy G. Mills Los Angeles City Council civil rights Martin Luther King Jr. Watts rebellion UCLA Law School Los Angeles Superior Court Ronal Reagan Leimert Park