David Eugene Mills[1] (November 20, 1961[2] – March 30, 2010) was an American journalist, of Pamunkey Indian descent writer and producer of television programs.

In 1989, Mills interviewed Professor Griff, a member of the hip hop group Public Enemy, for the Washington Times.

During the interview, the two spoke about the race riots that had taken place weeks earlier in Los Angeles after a predominantly-white jury acquitted four police officers who had been videotaped while beating a black motorist named Rodney King following a high-speed car chase.

Imagining the thoughts of a participant in the riots, Souljah said that it was:[7] Mills: But even the people themselves who were perpetrating that violence, did they think it was wise?

[8]Within weeks of the interview, Democratic presidential candidate Bill Clinton criticized Jesse Jackson and the Rainbow Coalition for inviting Souljah to speak at its convention.

The network series was based on a book, Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets, by David Simon, a college friend of Mills.

[11] The episode, called "Bop Gun", which featured Robin Williams as a guest star, aired in January 1994 as the second-season premiere.

At a professional writer's seminar during 1994, David Milch, the co-creator of NYPD Blue, tried to explain why there were so few African-American screenwriters.

In one of those episodes, "Closing Time", recovering alcoholic Andy Sipowicz begins drinking again and is beaten by a group of young men who steal his gun.

[18] During 1999, David Simon was asked to adapt his book The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood into a miniseries for HBO.

Kingpin, a six-part series that aired during 2003, was a drama about the head of a Mexican drug cartel and his business and family lives.

[28] In 1998, Mills and some of his fellow Uncut Funk authors edited various interviews they had conducted with P-Funk members over the years.

The resulting book, George Clinton and P-Funk: An Oral History, was published as part of the For the Record series, edited by music critic Dave Marsh.

David Mills died of a brain aneurysm on March 30, 2010, at the Tulane Medical Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, twelve days before the premiere of Treme.

[29][30] Two weeks after his death, 80 members of the cast and crew of the show dedicated a tree in New Orleans' City Park in Mills's memory.