Bearing Witness

WRITE THIS SECOND’s Mission: Lead transformative workshops to facilitate community empowerment; from poetry to embbodi mapping and beyond, at WRITE THIS SECOND we bear witness to our lives as an act of reclamation, to cultivate emotional evolution and a self-acceptance revolution, especially for BIPOC women.

We write to reclaim life
to recover consciousness
to resist feelings of unworthiness
to understand ourselves
to define ourselves

We write to understand the difference
between what forms our anger
and what ties our tongues

FORMATION PROCESS: Hello and welcome, My name is Kira Lynne Allen; I am the Founder, Facilitator & Author of WRITE THIS SECOND. I am a poet, artist, activist, advocate and facilitator with a Master’s Degree in Transformative Arts from John F Kennedy University and a Bachelor’s Degree in English/ Creative Writing from Mills College. Through the process of cross-registration, I took Poetry for the People (P4P) at UC Berkeley with Professor June Jordan, as a regular student for one semester and then for an entire year as a Student Teacher Poet (STP). The lessons learned in P4P as an STP combined with my Transformative Arts degree, led to 20+ years of grassroots teaching in a wide variety of venues: from classrooms in 5th-12th grade, colleges and universities to homeless shelters, juvenile hall facilities and women’s recovery homes to non-profits and intimate circles inside people’s homes.

I was once a high school dropout, lost in a sea of abuse, addiction and degradation. I found my voice through poetry, art, education and community engagement. I finally realized that breaking the silent, secret, spell that kept me buried above ground; meant evoking the consciousness that puts an end to the doubts and fears that allow these deadly cycles to continue. I am blessed with two beautiful daughters and I am proud to say I am one among four generations of Allen’s who call Oakland, California home. In fall of 2013 I finally let go of my day job to form WRITE THIS SECOND; to reach out to those around me who believe it’s time for all of us to heal and live a life of grace guided by faith, love and action. Everyday I spend on this faith filled walk pursuing my dreams brings redemption from my past and reinforces the necessity of this work. WRITE THIS SECOND creativity has the power to transform everything!