Nahshon Ratcliff

Nahshon Ratcliff (born 1978) is a trans-women, American writer, producer and 2014 Recipient of the Bronx Recognizes its own award, from Altadena, California.

Early Life

Nahshon was born in Los Angeles county suburb of Altadena California and attended John Muir High School in Pasadena California. On January 1st 2000 Nahshon was arrested for disturbing the peace as she attempted to board a float during the annual Rose Parade in Pasadena California.

Career

In 1997 after attending Los California State University for Two Semester Nahshon started working at the Keenan Ivory Wayans Late Night Talk Show as what she thought was a TV production assistant position. She was given receptionist duties but unknown to her the whole gig was a hoax and she was secretly being taped. But since she did not act the way the producer thought she would she was given the option to leave or actually work, she chose to work.

This decision led her to go on to be the production coordinator for several well known names in hip-hop Russell Simmons' One World Music Beat, Naughty By Nature's music video Jamboree and the documentary 1 More Hit by Shauna Garr of Smart Girl Productions.

As well as being a producer she is a professional Sag-Afro Actor and, has performed in several television series and national commercials most notably Diana Krall's music video Let's Face the Music and drag performance with Sheryl Crow at the 26th Annual American Music Awards.

Writing

Shortly after relocating to New York City Nahshon starting taking writing workshop classes at Project Red Umbrella led by Audacia Ray, The Actors Fund of America and Bronx Writers Center. She has contributed to the books the Bronx Memoir Project and Hiding in Hip-Hop but is best known for her memoir shooting range.

Shooting Range

Shooting range is a reflection of Nahshon own experience both as a transgender and as a victim of a hate crime. The title comes from the perpetrators own words "ever been to a shooting range". The manuscript went on to win a grant from the Bronx Council of the Arts.

Nahshon 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 was able to produce a film. Nahshan believes shooting range will have a meaningful impact on survivors of violent crime and hopes it will create dialog around Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.