Nahshon Dion Anderson (born April 1, 1978) is an Afro-Mexican and French Creole writer, emerging filmmaker, photographer and the 2014 recipient of the Bronx Recognizes Its Own Award (BRIO), given by the Bronx Council on the Arts.
Video Nahshon Dion Anderson
Early life
Anderson was born in Los Angeles County in the suburb of Altadena and raised as a Jehovah's Witness. Anderson's family resided in Pasadena since the 1950s. Anderson attended John Marshall Fundamental Junior High School with Actress Lark Vorhees and Tamala Jones as well as Actors Jaleel White and Jaharay Benett. As a member of Ms. Smiths drama club, Anderson was invited to view live TV show tapings of various sitcoms at Sony Picutres Studios in Culver City, mainly Family Matters.
Maps Nahshon Dion Anderson
Career
During 1992 Nahshon wrote an essay on community improvement for Discover Card and won $500 and used those funds to visit New York with their family during 1993.. In 1994, Anderson began working at Chuck E. Cheese as Chuck E. and was cast in a TV commercial that was shot in Pasadena at the Sierra Madre location Anderson was employed at and became Taft-Hartley and eligible to join the Screen Actors Guild. From 1995-1996, Anderson worked at Universal Studios Hollywood during the weekends and attended John Muir High School in Pasadena with Tashauna Howard. Her godfather Tupac Shakur attended their prom on June 7 with his personal bodyguard at the Biltmore Hotel In Los Angeles. Anderson inquired about working in Hollywood, and Tupac directed her to contact Look Here Productions which was producing his music videos at the time.
Upon taking rapper Tupac's advice in the summer of 1996, Anderson started off as an intern at Look Hear Productions with Tracy D. Robinson and Gobi M. Rahimi. While attending California State University Los Angeles for two semesters after reading Black Talent News, at age 19 Anderson started working at The Keenen Ivory Wayans Show as a production assistant in 1997. Within months Anderson became Executive Producer Michael Davies personal assistant working at Buena Vista Television a division of The Walt Disney Company located at Walt Disney Studios_(Burbank) in the development department along with executives of The Keenen Ivory Wayans Show Hayma Washington and Shauna Garr. During this time Nahshon met Yusuf Bey of Your Black Muslim Bakery son Sayyed Yusuf Bey owner of Quick N Shine auto detail, who worked for the Wayans Family detailing their cars and fell deeply in love.
Anderson was the production coordinator for hip-hop artists, Russell Simmons' One World Music Beat, Naughty by Nature's music video Jamboree, Master P's film, Da Last Don, and the documentary 1 More Hit. In 1999, Anderson joined the Screen Actors Guild, appearing in Diana Krall's music video Let's Face the Music, Arrest & Trial, a Nintendo commercial, with Sheryl Crow at the 26th Annual American Music Awards, and did print modeling for PacSun. Anderson was also hired by former VIBE writer Brianna Hyneman to assist her at The Source Hip Hop Music Awards 1999. In 2001 they moved to Fort Greene Brooklyn and worked with The Bachelor Pad and Trace (magazine) on The Black Girls Rock issue at the home of Richard Wayner which was previously owned by Spike Lee. After six months in Fort Greene, Nahshon returned to California.
In 2011 Nahshon returned to New York City hoping to settle in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. However, upon arrival, Nahshon discovered Fort Greene and most of Brooklyn had been gentrified and was forced to settle in The Bronx with Section 8 Voucher. In the Bronx Nahshon quickly learned that many of the neighbors were of Puerto Rican descent. Nahshon started to observe her Puerto Rican neighbors from her window as well as learn about their culture. This experience brought back pleasant childhood memories growing up in the Harvard Heights section of Los Angeles and Van Nuys with Mexican family members. Nahshon saw the many similarities between the two cultures and the experience enabled Nahshon to write more effectively regarding the Afro-Latin experience.
Assault
On July 4, 1997, near midnight, while Anderson was en route to her boyfriend Pastor Eugene Joshua Simms' home she was assaulted by offender Ricky Laverne Marshall at Jim Thorpe Park in Hawthorne, California. Ricky was arraigned on July 8th. The pre-trial was held on July 22nd in Inglewood and the Deputy District Attorney was Dana Garcetti. During the first week of May in 1998, Anderson testified against Marshall at Los Angeles Superior Court Torrance Courthouse. The case was presided over by Judge William Hollingsworth. Marshall was found not guilty on all three felony charges. However, Marshall had other felony charges pending and was found guilty and sentenced for the sexual assault of a child under the age of 14 in October 1998. Marshall is serving his sentence at Mule Creek State Prison in California and is eligible for parole in 2036.
Writing
During 2013, Nahshon relocated to New York City and started taking writing workshop classes at Actors Fund of America Nahshon's prose deals with themes such as Identity, Afro-Latinx culture, PTSD, police brutality, Criminal Justice, economic inequality, forbidden love, prostitution, religious persecution, LGBT culture, rage, revenge, gender, suicide, shame, and loneliness.
Nahshon wrote short story Shooting Range, which was inspired by the assault they endured on July 4, 1997 and their relationship with Sayyed Yusuf Bey. Shooting Range was edited by former VIBE magazine writer Brianna Hyneman who had been colleague's with Anderson since 1999. In the Fall of 2013 through Poets & Writers magazine Nahshon discovered the Bronx Council on The Arts Brio grant competition which they entered Shooting Range in and won.
Anderson contributed to the book Bronx Memoir Project: Vol. 1 in 2014. Anderson is a 2015 VONA/Voices of Our Nation Arts Foundation Fellow, as well as a 2016 Lambda Literary Foundation Fellow for non-fiction, and the inaugural recipient of the Bryn Kelly Scholarship. After the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting at club Pulse in Orlando, Florida the anthology Our Happy Hours: LGBT Voices from the Gay Bars was created and Anderson is a contributing writer. Anderson is also a contributing writer for Lambda Literary Review.
Published works
Literary Journals
- Coldcreek Review The Shallows
Anthologies
- Emerge: 2017 Lambda Literary Fellows Anthology. (Volume 3) Lambda Literary Foundation
- Our Happy Hours: LGBT Voices From the Gay Bars. Flashpoint Productions. ISBN 978-1633048133
- Emerge: 2016 Lambda Literary Fellows Anthology. (Volume 2) Lambda Literary Foundation ISBN 978-1546327097
- Prose & Lore Collected Issues 1-5: Memoir Stories About Sex Work (Red Umbrella Project) ISBN 978-0988259690
- Prose & Lore: Issue 3: Memoir Stories About Sex Work (Red Umbrella Project) ISBN 978-0988259669
- Prose & Lore: Issue 2: Memoir Stories About Sex Work (Red Umbrella Project) ISBN 978-0988259645
Non-fiction books
- The Bronx Memoir Project BCA (2014) ISBN 978-1500674069
Activism
While residing in Hollywood and West Hollywood California, Anderson volunteered as at the Greater West Hollywood Food Coalition and distributed food to homeless individuals at Sycamore and Romaine. Anderson volunteered for Heal the Bay and was a Production Associate for their 20th-anniversary fundraiser. Anderson also served as a Production Associate for Magic Johnson's 20th Mid Summer Night Magic week long fundraising event. Anderson interned at the Transgender Legal Defense Education Fund in New York City and worked on the Name Change Project. As an activist, Anderson served as a grant review panelist for Brooklyn, Bronx, and Queens Art Councils and in 2016 was selected by New York philanthropist Barbaralee Diamonstein-spielvogel to be a New York State Council on the Arts grants Advisory panelist. Anderson makes regular philanthropic contribution to organizations that support the arts, Afro-Latin culture and social justice.
Awards, grants and honors
- 2018 Sundress Academy for the Arts Writer In Residence
- 2017 NADC Arts & Accessibility Technical Assistance Grant from California Arts Council
- 2017 Creative Capacity Fund Quick Grant
- 2017 Lambda Literary Writer In Residence
- 2017 NALAC National Association of Latino Arts and Culture Leadership Institute (NLI) Fellow
- 2016 NADC Arts & Accessibility Technical Assistance Grant from California Arts Council
- 2016 The Bryn Kelly Scholarship, Lambda Literary Foundation
- 2016 Lambda Literary Fellow, Lambda Literary Foundation
- 2016 Grant from The Episcopal Actors Guild
- 2015 VONA Fellow, Voices of Our Nation Arts Foundation
- 2015 NADC Arts & Accessibility Technical Assistance Grant from California Arts Council
- 2015 Mayer Foundation Grant, New York
- 2015 Change Inc. Grant Captiva, Florida
- 2014 BRIO Grant from Bronx Council on The Arts
- 2013 & 2012 Grant from The Actors Fund of America
- 1992 Discover Card Essay
See also
- LGBT culture in New York City
- LGBT literature
- List of Louisiana Creoles
- List of people from California
References
Sources
- Dean, Terrance (2008). Hiding in Hip Hop: On the Down Low in the Entertainment Industry--from Music to Hollywood. New York, NY: Atria Books. ISBN 978-1416553403.
External links
- Nahshondionanderson.com, Official Site
- NahshonAnderson on IMDb
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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