Biography
Nahshon Dion Anderson Born April 1, 1978 in Altadena, California, is an African-American, Mexican and French Creole. 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. Raised in a strict religious household, a career in the arts wasn’t encouraged. But inspiration appeared in Nahshon’s life at the age of 13. While attending the John Marshall JHS, the drama class arranged field trips to see a classmate working on a show called Family Matters. Steve Urkel was brought to life by actor Jaleel White. Nahshon enjoyed her trips to the set, discovering it was the behind-the-scenes activities of crew members that intrigued her the most.
During 1992, Nahshon's improbable trajectory began after family friend Rodney Glen King was tortured by the LAPD. She entered a Discover Card-sponsored contest about community improvement. Her essay won $500, and she used the funds for a trip to NYC in 1993. She met Tupac Shakur at her senior prom in 1996, when he escorted a classmate to the event. Nahshon’s conversation with him focused on opportunities in TV and video production. Tupac suggested she should speak with the company creating his music videos, Look Hear Productions. Following her graduation, she landed a summer internship with Tracy D. Robinson of Look Hear. In September, she enrolled at Cal State Los Angeles, the same month that Tupac was murdered.
In college, Nahshon worked as an extra on Moesha and The Steve Harvey Show. In 1997, she became a production assistant on Master P’s film Da Last Don and a late night comedic production, The Keenan Ivory Wayans Show. In 1998 she worked as the production coordinator for Russell Simmons' One World Music Beat. In 2007, Nahshon was the production coordinator on the documentary 1 More Hit, about rapper J. Swift's descent into drug abuse and recovery.
After soliciting clients for over a decade by advertising erotic massages in Los Angeles XPress newspaper on Craigslist and Backpage and having extreme success, Nahshon wanted to cast a wider spell to entertain. During 2013, in a sanity-preserving act she relocated to New York, taking writing workshops with the Red Umbrella Project, The Actors Fund of America and the Bronx Writing Center. In 2014, Nahshon received a Bronx Recognizes Its Own Award (BRIO) from the Bronx Council on the Arts’, for an excerpt of her work-in-progress memoir Shooting Range. It details a sadistic assault she survived as a teen in July of 1997. A psychotic convict captured her, rammed a .380 in her mouth and asked Nahshon if she had ever been to a shooting range. He then handcuffed and shot her.
In 2015 Nahshon was awarded a VONA (Voices of Our Nations Arts) Foundation fellowship. In 2016 she became a Lambda Literary Fellow. Her writing appears in several anthologies and literary journals. She is presently a member of the Individual Artists Advisory Panel for the New York State Council on the Arts.
During 1992, Nahshon's improbable trajectory began after family friend Rodney Glen King was tortured by the LAPD. She entered a Discover Card-sponsored contest about community improvement. Her essay won $500, and she used the funds for a trip to NYC in 1993. She met Tupac Shakur at her senior prom in 1996, when he escorted a classmate to the event. Nahshon’s conversation with him focused on opportunities in TV and video production. Tupac suggested she should speak with the company creating his music videos, Look Hear Productions. Following her graduation, she landed a summer internship with Tracy D. Robinson of Look Hear. In September, she enrolled at Cal State Los Angeles, the same month that Tupac was murdered.
In college, Nahshon worked as an extra on Moesha and The Steve Harvey Show. In 1997, she became a production assistant on Master P’s film Da Last Don and a late night comedic production, The Keenan Ivory Wayans Show. In 1998 she worked as the production coordinator for Russell Simmons' One World Music Beat. In 2007, Nahshon was the production coordinator on the documentary 1 More Hit, about rapper J. Swift's descent into drug abuse and recovery.
After soliciting clients for over a decade by advertising erotic massages in Los Angeles XPress newspaper on Craigslist and Backpage and having extreme success, Nahshon wanted to cast a wider spell to entertain. During 2013, in a sanity-preserving act she relocated to New York, taking writing workshops with the Red Umbrella Project, The Actors Fund of America and the Bronx Writing Center. In 2014, Nahshon received a Bronx Recognizes Its Own Award (BRIO) from the Bronx Council on the Arts’, for an excerpt of her work-in-progress memoir Shooting Range. It details a sadistic assault she survived as a teen in July of 1997. A psychotic convict captured her, rammed a .380 in her mouth and asked Nahshon if she had ever been to a shooting range. He then handcuffed and shot her.
In 2015 Nahshon was awarded a VONA (Voices of Our Nations Arts) Foundation fellowship. In 2016 she became a Lambda Literary Fellow. Her writing appears in several anthologies and literary journals. She is presently a member of the Individual Artists Advisory Panel for the New York State Council on the Arts.
Contact: Ratcliff1978@gmail.com