# Nahshon Dion

Nahshon Dion Anderson (born April 1, 1978; previously Nahshon Ratcliff) is an American artist and writer whose work explores themes of discrimination, identity, and violence against minority youth.

## Early life

Dion was born on April 1, 1978, in Altadena, California. She is an African American Louisiana Creole. Her father died at a young age. She was raised by her mother with her siblings. They were part of a Jehovah's Witness community that included her family friend and neighbor, Rodney King. In junior high school, Dion participated in the drama club and was part of a television commercial for Chuck E. Cheese.
In 1996, she met Tupac Shakur at her senior prom who put her in touch with a production company, Look Hear Sound & Vision Productions. She interned with them following graduation. While in school, she came out as a gay man. She graduated from John Muir High School. Dion attended California State University, Los Angeles for two semesters.

## Career

In 1998, Dion worked as an assistant to actor Stanley Bennett Clay where she helped him produce SBC Magazine focused on gay Black men.
In 2013, Dion relocated to New York City to pursue writing a memoir and nonfiction. She moved to the Bronx in 2013. Dion writes on discrimination, identity, and violence.
In 2019, she began work on a historical and educational film and documentary titled Renewed Life. It is based on her unpublished memoir of her upbringing in Los Angeles County, California and life in the Bronx.
In 2020, Dion was interviewed by writer Sheldon Pearce for Changes: An Oral History of Tupac (Simon & Schuster). The book was a New Yorker writer's intimate, revealing account of Tupac Shakur's life and legacy, timed to the fiftieth anniversary of his birth and twenty-fifth anniversary of his death. Pearce, an editor and writer at The New Yorker, interviews dozens who knew Tupac throughout various phases of his life including those who have never before spoken on the record.
In September 2021, Dion created a tribute to Tupac, a significant figure in her journey. This was the twenty-fifth anniversary of his untimely death, and she wanted to honor his legacy. She discovered the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs Artist Corps Grant, which aimed to support artists impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Out of three thousand applicants, Dion was one of the recipients of $5,000. With this award, she hosted a virtual event featuring Tracy D. Robinson, a producer and director, as well as Tupac's former manager and mentor Leila Steinberg, and other artists and writers. Together, they paid tribute to Tupac through readings from his poetry book The Rose That Grew from Concrete and a discussion on his lasting impact on culture and society through his words, images, and music.
In 2022, Dion started hosting and producing a YouTube show, "TRANSBRATIONS". She interviewed writers, Michele Zack, Jacqueline Woodson, Jeffrey C. Stewart, Linda Villarosa, Sarah Schulman, Charles Rice Gonzalez, Stanley Bennet Clay, Transgender advocates Ceyenne Doroshow and Gwendolyn Ann Smith, drag queens Harmonica Sunbeam, Kevin Aviance, Jazzmun, filmmaker Pablo Mirrales and California State Secretary Dr. Shirley Weber.

## Personal life

In early July 1997, at the age of 19, Dion was working as a production assistant when she was shot by a homophobic individual. She was later diagnosed with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Dion started transitioning around 2008 and later came out as a transgender woman.

## Activism

In 2024, Nahshon Dion and TRANSBRATIONS Art Collective organized the 25th anniversary of Transgender Day of Remembrance in South Central Los Angeles at ST. John's Community Health, honoring Meraxes Medina and two dozen other victims of transphobia in 2024. The California State Senate acknowledged her for her impact on the community.

## Eaton Fire

On January 8, the Eaton Fire in Altadena, CA, destroyed her childhood homes along with the homes of three family members, numerous friends, and dozens of her former schoolmates. The devastation hit especially hard—in February 2005, she lost her older sister, Shennea, in a fire in Los Angeles. She launched a GoFundMe campaign, which was ultimately unsuccessful. She traveled to California in late January to comfort family and friends, assist with relief efforts, document the aftermath, and interview residents. This two-week journey marked the beginning of her documentary film, "My Beloved Altadena."

## Honors, awards and fellowships

* 2025 Intercultural Leadership Institute (ILI) fellowship
* 2025 New York State Council on The Arts Individual Artist grant
* 2024 The Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs Public Space Activation Fund Grant: Arts and Social Wellness
* 2024 Trans Justice Funding Project
* 2024 Congresswoman Judy Chu (D-CA 28th District) Certificate of Heroism
* 2024 West Hollywood Rainbow Key Award
* 2024 Rick Chavez Zbur California State Legislature Assembly Certificate of Recognition
* 2023 Trans Justice Funding Project
* 2023 National Arts & Disability Center (NADC) Artist Achievement Award
* 2023 Bronx Recognizes Its Own (BRIO) nonfiction award, Bronx Council on The Arts
* 2023 18th Street Arts Center Artist Residencey
* 2021 New York City Artist Corps Grant
* 2014 Bronx Recognizes Its Own (BRIO) nonfiction award, Bronx Council on The Arts

## Published works

* Emerge: 2017 Lambda Literary Fellows Anthology. (Volume 3) Lambda Literary Foundation ISBN 978-1-9853-8436-1
* Our Happy Hours: LGBT Voices From the Gay Bars. Flashpoint Productions. ISBN 978-1-63304-813-3
* Emerge: 2016 Lambda Literary Fellows Anthology. (Volume 2) Lambda Literary Foundation ISBN 978-1-5463-2709-7