Biography
Nahshon Dion as a pre-teen, she was her family’s scribe and lector, both reading and writing for her illiterate grandfather, blind grandmother, and dyslexic mother. When family friend Rodney Glen King was beaten by the LAPD and the aftermath played out in Nahshon’s driveway and front lawn, she entered a Discovery Card-sponsored contest about conflict and community improvement. Her essay won $500 and she used the funds for a trip to visit New York City.
Raised in a cult, a career in the arts wasn’t encouraged. But inspiration appeared in Nahshon’s life at the age of thirteen when her high school drama class took a field trip to visit a classmate who worked on a show called Family Matters. She was fascinated by the antics of Steve Urkel, the show’s breakout character, actor Jaleel White. But it was the behind-the-scenes activities of crew members that intrigued her the most, an impression that would later inspire her to pursue TV production.
Nahshon's improbable career trajectory accelerated in 1996 after meeting the late rapper/actor Tupac Shakur at her senior prom. When Nahshon approached Tupac about opportunities in TV and video production, Tupac suggested she should speak with the co-founder and president of his company Look Hear Sound & Vision Productions that was producing his music videos at that time. Following her graduation, she secured a summer internship at Look Hear Sound & Vision productions and soon after, enrolled at California State University, Los Angeles with a major in Radio TV and Film.
Nahshon worked as an extra on the TV shows Moesha and The Steve Harvey Show while in college. She was a production assistant for Master P’s film Da Last Don and a late-night comedic production, The Keenan Ivory Wayans Show. She was the assistant to British Executive Producer Michael Davies at Buena Vista TV (Walt Disney). Nahshon was also production coordinator for Russell Simmons' One World Music Beat and the documentary film 1 More Hit about rapper J. Swift's descent into drug abuse and recovery.
Nahshon is a multi-talented, award-winning creative nonfiction writer and teaching artist and has been published in several LGBTQ anthologies and literary journals. She's the recipient of dozens of grants, fellowships, artist residencies, honors, and awards providing more ammunition for “Shooting Range". Nahshon has achieved most working artists' dream — creating a uniquely personal work turning her anguish into art that touches on the biggest of big issues, gun violence. Since 2012 (and to date), Nahshon has secured and received over 80k in various forms of funding and support towards developing and creating her forthcoming and gut-wrenching magnum opus memoir "Shooting Range", inspired by Tupac Shakur.
In September of 2020, Nahshon was interviewed by writer and editor Sheldon Pearce of The New Yorker magazine for his book Changes: An Oral History of Tupac, published by Simon & Schuster.
Nahshon's pronouns are He/She and they/them
Raised in a cult, a career in the arts wasn’t encouraged. But inspiration appeared in Nahshon’s life at the age of thirteen when her high school drama class took a field trip to visit a classmate who worked on a show called Family Matters. She was fascinated by the antics of Steve Urkel, the show’s breakout character, actor Jaleel White. But it was the behind-the-scenes activities of crew members that intrigued her the most, an impression that would later inspire her to pursue TV production.
Nahshon's improbable career trajectory accelerated in 1996 after meeting the late rapper/actor Tupac Shakur at her senior prom. When Nahshon approached Tupac about opportunities in TV and video production, Tupac suggested she should speak with the co-founder and president of his company Look Hear Sound & Vision Productions that was producing his music videos at that time. Following her graduation, she secured a summer internship at Look Hear Sound & Vision productions and soon after, enrolled at California State University, Los Angeles with a major in Radio TV and Film.
Nahshon worked as an extra on the TV shows Moesha and The Steve Harvey Show while in college. She was a production assistant for Master P’s film Da Last Don and a late-night comedic production, The Keenan Ivory Wayans Show. She was the assistant to British Executive Producer Michael Davies at Buena Vista TV (Walt Disney). Nahshon was also production coordinator for Russell Simmons' One World Music Beat and the documentary film 1 More Hit about rapper J. Swift's descent into drug abuse and recovery.
Nahshon is a multi-talented, award-winning creative nonfiction writer and teaching artist and has been published in several LGBTQ anthologies and literary journals. She's the recipient of dozens of grants, fellowships, artist residencies, honors, and awards providing more ammunition for “Shooting Range". Nahshon has achieved most working artists' dream — creating a uniquely personal work turning her anguish into art that touches on the biggest of big issues, gun violence. Since 2012 (and to date), Nahshon has secured and received over 80k in various forms of funding and support towards developing and creating her forthcoming and gut-wrenching magnum opus memoir "Shooting Range", inspired by Tupac Shakur.
In September of 2020, Nahshon was interviewed by writer and editor Sheldon Pearce of The New Yorker magazine for his book Changes: An Oral History of Tupac, published by Simon & Schuster.
Nahshon's pronouns are He/She and they/them
Email ratcliff1978@gmail.com