A Black trans author and director residing in the Bronx, Nahshon Dion, has found her happy place, one that inevitably reminds her of seeing mountains, rivers, and animals while growing up in the highlands of the San Gabriel Valley, California.
For Dion, visits to Altadena and Crotona Park and Indian Lake transport her to her earlier years in Los Angeles County. While Dion, 46, said her early childhood was “tranquil and silent,” her life since then has seen upheaval.
For one, Dion had to reapply for a home in New York City over the course of many times, but she has always lived there. She first moved to the city in July 2013, and then, on her next Bronx room, she has suddenly planted roots below.
“I like the Bronx, I like the excitement” and “all the different flavors,” Dion said. “Living in the Bronx, you’re never gonna be weary.”
Dion said she enjoys having friends from all kinds of backgrounds, and that she almost feels like the Bronx is a separate place. “There’s no other place where you have this amount of diversity,” she said. “It’s the beauty of all the nations.”
According to Dion, she avoids particular locations, mainly bodegas, because of the crisis that may appear there. For her protection as a Black trans lady, she says. But she said she’s “learned how to manage the Bronx.”
“Despite the crime, I also feel the Bronx is a beautiful spot,” she said.
And even though some Bronxites don’t include material prosperity, “These kids don’t seem jealous. I see people smiling, barbecuing in the gardens.”
Dion, who produces artistic fiction writing, is constantly inspired by the people and setting of the Bronx. Her job concentrates on her own experiences, including meeting Tupac in high school, being a victim of gun crime at age 25, and growing up with the Rodney King family.
Dion is currently working on a video that she hopes to finish by the end of 2025 after two months of designer citizenship in California. She is also attempting to keep up with her Transbrations YouTube channel and looking for a publisher for her narrative, which has been in the works since 2013.
“I used writing to create the life I wanted to live,” Dion said.
Transgender rankings
The Bronx, and the rest of the nation, has come a long way when it comes to care of gay and transgender people, according to Dion, but more importantly, she is now completely comfortable being herself.
In honor of National Transgender Day of Visibility, Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson just raised the beige blue, red, and white flag at Borough Hall for the first time on April 1.
Also so, Dion adopts a scientific view of how she is perceived in society.
“You’re not getting an award for being LGBT,” she said. You can’t make people stop being interested in you.”
Dion also pointed to “jealousy and discrimination” that exists within her own community.
There are so many discussions about tolerance and acceptance among the Gay area, and I believe many of them are actually the least tolerant and accepting, she said. “You can pull the screen back and it’s just like, ‘Oh, that’s what’s going on?’”
Dion claimed that she has thoughts of outward abuse, including children throwing containers at folks they thought were gay or transgender and constantly hearing insults like “f*****” — but things have changed.
“People are much more respectful” now, Dion said. “I’ve come across a few a-holes” but “I haven’t had one scratch on me in the Bronx.”
Even so, she doesn’t anticipate my neighbors inviting me over for dinner and other things,” not because they are hateful but because they simply have their own family and friends who come first. But when Dion sees transgender people walking around the town now, they’re not being harassed — and that seems like progress.
“Times have actually changed,” said Dion— but consequently has she. She said she is now more comfortable because she has gained the knowledge and perception that come with age.
“I’m 46 times old then. I’m never changing. I don’t believe the world to change, but I’m even not looking for anyone to take me, because I’ve accepted myself,” Dion said.
“Acceptance? I’m looking for a grant,” she said with a grin.
Dion hopes that some of those offers will shortly enable her to function in the Bronx. She has collaborated with the Bronx Council on the Art and the Bronx Academy of the Arts and Dance on various projects.
To Dion, it all boils down to creating a community of like-minded individuals who accept you for who you are, which she has found in the Bronx.
“I don’t necessarily want a seat at anyone’s table,” she said. I am aware of how to create my own.”
Reach Emily Swanson at [email protected] or (646) 717-0015. For more insurance, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram @bronxtimes
