Ruthie Hopkins, Co-Publisher of Pasadena Journal and Civil Rights Advocate, Dies

Ruthie Hopkins, longtime co-owner and publisher of The Pasadena/San Gabriel Valley Journal, has died following decades of advocacy journalism focused on issues affecting the Black community in Pasadena and the San Gabriel Valley, according to the Los Angeles Sentinel.

The Journal, published by Ruthie and her late husband Joe Hopkins, was the region’s only African American-owned newspaper from 1989 until 2023.

Through the Journal, the couple reported on issues including hiring practices, diversity in local government and allegations of racism within city departments and law enforcement agencies.

According to a Feb. 6, 2018 article published by the Los Angeles Sentinel, the newspaper addressed “serious issues and concerns facing the Black community including hiring practices, lack of diversity, and racism in city governments, city departments, and law enforcement.”

The Sentinel article also credited the Hopkinses’ advocacy and community organizing efforts with helping pave the way for the Tournament of Roses to select its first African American president in 2019.

In 2018, Joe and Ruthie Hopkins were recognized by the California Black Legislative Caucus as civil rights pioneers in the San Gabriel Valley.

Describing the couple as “unsung heroes,” then-Assemblymember Chris Holden said at the time, “Joe and Ruthie Hopkins are pillars of the Black community in the San Gabriel Valley. They continue the work of Martin Luther King Jr. through their voices and actions.”

Joe Hopkins died in November 2023.

Following the Eaton Fire in 2025, Ruthie Hopkins was displaced from her home and later lived in a memory care facility. The wildfire also destroyed the Journal‘s archives, eliminating decades of photographs, reporting and historical records documenting Black life and civic activism in the Pasadena area, according to an article in the LA Sentinel.

Funeral arrangements were pending at press time.