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Nahshon Dion
Nahshon Dion
	Dion in 2018
Born	April 1, 1978 (age 46); Altadena, California, U.S.
Other names	Nahshon Ratcliff; Nahshon Dion Anderson
Education	California State University, Los Angeles
Occupation(s)	Filmmaker, artist, writer

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

Life

Dion was born on April 1, 1978 in Altadena, California.^[1]^[2]^[3] Her father died at a young age and she was raised with her siblings by her mother.^[1] They were part of a Jehovah's Witness community.^[1] She is an African American Louisiana Creole.^[4]^[2] In high school, Dion participated in the drama club and was part of a television commercial for Chuck E. Cheese.^[1] In 1996, she met Tupac Shakur at her senior prom who put her in touch with a production company, Look Hear Sound & Vision Productions.^[1]^[5] She interned with them following graduation.^[1] While in school, she came out as a gay man.^[1] She graduated from John Muir High School.^[6] Dion attended California State University, Los Angeles for two semesters.^[6]

In early July 1997, at the age of 19, Dion was working as an actor and production assistant when she was shot by a homophobic individual.^[1]^[5] She was later diagnosed with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.^[1] Dion worked as an assistant to actor Stanley Bennett Clay where she helped him produce SBC Magazine focused on gay Black people.^[5] She later came out as a transgender woman.^[1] In 2011, Dion relocated to New York City to pursue writing a memoir and nonfiction.^[1]^[5] She moved to the Bronx in July 2013.^[4] Dion writes on discrimination, identity, and violence against minority youth.^[1] She is the host of a YouTube show, "TRANSBRATIONS."^[7] 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 It is based on her unpublished memoir of her upbringing in Los Angeles County, California and life in the Bronx.^[7]