Raul Ruiz (journalist)
Raul Ruíz was an American journalist, professor, and political activist for Chicano civil rights during the Chicano movement and for the Peace movement of the 1960s and '70s.Biography
Ruiz was born in El Paso, Texas but moved to Los Angeles in his teen years. He attended California State University, Los Angeles where he earned both a bachelor's degree and a master's degree. As a reporter, and editor of La Raza, Ruíz covered the Chicano Moratorium. He notably photographed the police aiming tear gas launchers at the Silver Dollar Café, where Ruben Salazar was killed. Ruiz's photo, considered an essential historical image of the Chicano movement, ran on the cover of the L.A. Times ans was reproduced around the world.
Ruiz was a candidate for La Raza Unida Party, a Chicano political party. He ran for the 48th Assembly district seat in Los Angeles in 1971, gaining 8 percent of the vote. In 1972 he ran for the 40th Assembly district seat, covering East L.A., under the La Raza Unida ticket, gaining 13 percent of the vote.
Ruiz taught for many years in the department of Chicano Studies at California State University, Northridge. He died in Los Angeles on June 13, 2019.
