Oscar Zeta Acosta

Famously depicted as Dr. Gonzo in Hunter S. Thompson's "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," Oscar Zeta Acosta was a lawyer, activist and writer who played an important role in the Chicano Movement in East L.A.

Born in El Paso, Texas in 1935, Acosta was raised in the San Joaquin Valley. After a stint in the Air Force, Acosta moved to San Francisco, where he took night classes at San Francisco Law School. He passed the California Bar exam in 1966 and started working at Oakland Legal Aid. In 1968, feeling he couldn't do much for the people that came to him for help, Acosta moved down to East Los Angeles, well-aware of the Chicano movement that was beginning to take shape.

Within two years of moving to East L.A., Acosta had become an integral part of the Chicano Movement. In 1970 he ran for Sheriff under the Raza Unida Party, a small party that aimed to bring Chicano issues to light. Acosta ran with the single platform of wanting to disband the LAPD; he received over 100,000 votes, which wasn't enough to win him the election, but demonstrated his popularity within the community.

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