Nahshon Ratcliff
| Nahshon Dion Anderson | |
|---|---|
 Nahshon at the Bronx Council on the Arts 2014 Brio award ceremony | |
| Born |
April 1, 1978 Altadena, California, United States |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | California State University Los Angeles |
| Occupation | Actor, memoirist, screenwriter, producer |
| Years active | 1994–present |
| Notable work | Shooting Range |
| Awards | Bronx Recognizes Its Own Award |
Nahshon Dion Anderson (born 1978) is an Afro-Indian and Latin American writer, producer and 2014 recipient of the Bronx Recognizes its own award (BRIO), given by the Bronx Council on the Arts.
Early life
With roots in East Texas and Opelousas, Louisiana where family members served in World War I & II [1] Nahshon is a Californian born in the Los Angeles County suburb of Altadena and raised as a Jehovah's Witness.[2]
Nahshon's family resided in Pasadena for several years, in an apartment behind Rodney Glen Kings mother, and owned by his cousin Chester Powers. Nahshon was not a stranger to the torture Rodney King endured by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). Nahshon's father, Milton Lee Anderson and Rodney King's dad, Ronald King were fishing buddies, and both men passed away in the mid-80's.
Career
In 1994 Nahshon began working at Chuck E. Cheese as Chuck E. and was cast in a TV commercial that was shot in Pasadena. From 1995-1996, Nahshon attended John Muir High School in Pasadena with Tashaunna Howard, her godfather Tupac Shakur attended their Prom on June 7 with his personal bodyguard at the Biltmore Hotel In Los Angeles. Nahshon enquired about working in Hollywood, and Tupac directed them to contact Look Here Productions which was producing his music videos at the time [3]
Upon taking rapper Tupac's advice in the summer of 1996 Nahshon 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 Nahshon started working at The Keenen Ivory Wayans Show as a production assistant in 1997. After a few months on the new job Nahshon became Executive Producer Michael Davies personal assistant and began working at Buena Vista Television in the development department.
Nahshon 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 by Shauna Garr of Smart Girl Productions.[2][3] In 1999 Nahshon became employed by Director, Filmmaker and Writer Stanley Bennet Clay and joined the Screen Actors Guild, appearing in Diana Krall's music video Let's Face the Music, Arrest & Trial, a Nintendo commercial and with Sheryl Crow at the 26th Annual American Music Awards.[3]
Assault
On July 4, 1997, while cruising near Leimert Park around midnight, Nahshon picked up Ricky Laverne Marshall on Crenshaw and Vernon at a bus stop and drove south to Jim Thorpe Park in Hawthorne, California. While sitting in the car after engaging in pleasant conversation for half hour things took a turn for the worse. Nahshon was beaten, handcuffed, and had a 380 shoved in their mouth and sustained one gunshot to the left arm. After several gunshots rang out, Ricky jumped out of the car and fled the scene.
After escaping, Nahshon drove to an AM/PM gas station and was taken to Robert F. Kennedy hospital and was asked to identify a possible suspect. Ricky Marshall was apprehended by Hawthorne Police Officers Komathy and Irizibal, while hiding in Jim Thorpe park and sustained a gunshot wound in the leg during the altercation. Nahshon then received notice that their left arm might need an amputation. After being transported to Martin Luther King, Jr. Multi-Service Ambulatory Care Center and receiving a second opinion Doctors concluded Nahshon's left arm was no longer at risk for amputation.
The attack left Nahshon with severe physical and psychological injuries: facial contusions; throat scarring from the gun being jammed into their mouth to tonsils; partial numbness and extreme sensitivity in left arm; and bullet fragments lodged in their left elbow.
In the Spring of 1998 Nahshon testified against Marshall at Los Angeles Superior Court Torrance Courthouse. The case was presided over by Judge William Hollingsworth and Marshall was found not guilty on all 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 and an adult woman in October 1998. Marshall prisoner 16111 is currently serving his sentence at Mule Creek State Prison in California and is eligible for parole in 2036.[4]
Arrest
On January 1, 2000, at age 21 Nahshon was dressed in a white chiffon prom dress trimmed with roses and rushed the float ferrying Rose Queen Sophia Bush and her court. Police quickly swarmed, and placed Nahshon under arrest on suspicion of trespassing and disturbing the peace. While led away, Nahshon protested: "I am a queen. I was meant to be on that float."[5]
Writing
In 2007, Nahshon's former co-worker on The Keenen Ivory Wayan's late night talk show Terrence Dean reached out to Nahshon to rehash old memories and get the most recent scoop on hip-hop and Hollywood. In the summer of 2008, Terrance Dean published his first memoir Hiding in Hip-Hop: On the Down Low in the Entertainment Industry—from Music to Hollywood. There were several written chapters about Nahshon's personal and professional life without their consent or knowledge.
Nahshon always knew they had a story worth telling and shortly after relocating to New York City, started taking writing workshop classes at Project Red Umbrella led by Audacia Ray, Actors Fund of America and the Bronx Writers Center and wrote short story ''Shooting Range''. Nahshon contributed to the book Bronx Memoir Project: Vol. 1 in 2014.[6] Nahshon is a 2015 VONA/Voices of Our Nation Arts Foundation Fellow and studied under writer Andrew X. Pham, as well as a 2016 Lambda Literary Foundation Fellow for non-fiction.[6][7]
Shooting Range
''Shooting Range'' is a reflection of Nahshon's own experience as a victim of crime. The manuscript went on to win a Brio award from the Bronx Council on the Arts. In 2014 Nahshon began collaborating with Filmmaker Shauna Garr and had the manuscript adapted into a screenplay and with generous support from California Arts Council and The National Arts and Disability Center at the University of California Los Angeles s was able to produce a fundraising promo. Once again In 2016 the National Arts and Disability Center provided Nahshon with funds to hire an editor for their 150-page manuscript ''Shooting Range'' and believes it will have a meaningful impact on survivors of violent crime and hopes it will create dialog around Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.[6]
See also
- List of African American writers
- LGBT literature
- List of Afro-Latinos
- List of LGBT writers
- List of Louisiana Creoles
- List of people of African-American and Native American ancestry
- List of people from California
References
- ↑ "http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=119372164 = 2016-03-26". External link in
|title=(help); - 1 2 "Bios". Bronx Book Fair. Retrieved 2016-01-03.
- 1 2 3 "brio_winners_2014". www.bronxarts.org. Retrieved 2016-01-03.
- ↑ "Local organization brings Bronx filmmaker’s dream to life". Bronx Times. Retrieved 2016-01-03.
- ↑ "Crowd Oohs, Ahs and Shivers at Rose Parade". LA Times. 2 December 2000. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
- 1 2 3 Ratcliff, Nahshon. "My Art Story". National Endowment of the Arts. National Endowment of the Arts. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
- ↑ "2016 Writers Retreat Fellows". Lambda Literary. Retrieved 2016-04-22.
External links
- Nahshon Ratcliff at the Internet Movie Database
- http://www.amazon.com/Bronx-Memoir-Project-Writers-Center/dp/1500674060 In this publication, Nahshon discusses their French Creole ancestry in Opoluseas, Louisana.