ACTIVIST SPOTLIGHT: RYAN DEITSCH

My name is Ryan Deitsch and I am a 24 year old Jewish American filmmaker, international human rights organizer and member of the Workers Circle who recently schlepped his way to New York City as part of my creative and Yiddish journeys.

Almost six years ago, on Valentine’s Day, I survived a shooting carried out by a young neonazi at my high school, Marjory Stoneman Douglas, in Parkland, Florida. To honor the victims and to fight so others didn’t experience the tragedy of gun violence that our community had, I co-founded the March for Our Lives organization. Since then, I have engaged in gun violence prevention, voter registration and human rights advocacy work alongside nonprofits, corporations, journalists, politicians and community partners.

Although I’d been familiar with Yiddish through my older relatives' colorful use of phrases, I began researching Yiddish as a student at the American University in Washington, DC, during the early days of COVID-19 lockdown, watching educational YouTube videos and lectures on just about anything to do with the subject. This process was a little lonely however and I longed to learn Yiddish in community with other passionate people. The Workers Circle gave me such an opportunity as I first became involved with the College Network at a Supreme Court protest following the horrendous Dobbs decision that rolled back abortion rights.

Last April, I led the Teen Activist Academy in a storytelling workshop and in August had the honor to participate in the Trip to Yiddishland. I’ll be in the beginner Yiddish course starting in a couple weeks and this March, as a victim of and a fighter against White Supremacy, I will be joining the Workers Circle and Black Voters Matter in Selma, Alabama, for their student summit. In these times of violence and hatred, I am proud to align with a Jewish legacy organization like the Workers Circle in their work to promote cross-generational Yiddish cultural study and their fight to uphold democracy.
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From Left To Right: Joe Russo, Matt Deitsch, Ryan Deitsch & Anthony Russo. The Russos are thanking the Deitsch Brothers, who wrote and filmed a voter registration PSA featuring several stars of Marvel’s The Avengers franchise. Photo dated September 13th, 2018.