A Mother’s Rite is a cutting-edge ballet that explores one mother’s journey through stages of grief after being thrust into the spotlight by way of her son's murder. Inspired by countless Black mothers who have lost their children to police brutality and racially targeted violence, A Mother’s Rite is a thirty-seven minute solo set to Igor Stravinsky's iconic Rite of Spring musical composition. Directed & Choreographed by Jeremy McQueen and developed in collaboration with librettist Angelica Chéri, A MOTHER'S RITE features artwork by Sophia Dawson and was co-commissioned through the The Bronx Museum of the Arts’ Dance and Visual Arts Collaborative Commissioning Program and 651 ARTS, with additional support provided by Vineyards Arts Project. The stage version of the ballet premiered on Thursday, August 16, 2018 in New York City, presented by City Park's Foundation's SUMMERSTAGE. Performed by Alvin Ailey American Dancer Theater dancer and Princess Grace Award recipient Courtney Celeste Spears, the Emmy® Award-nominated film adaptation was filmed and edited by award-winning filmmaker Colton Williams. A Mother’s Rite received its New York City television debut on January 19, 2019 on CUNY TV, New York’s independent non-commercial television station, part of The City University of New York.

Letters of love

The LETTERS OF LOVE workshop, a continuation of a 2017 Mother’s Day letter writing campaign originally developed by the Campaign for Black Male Achievement and Mothers Against Police Brutality, is a letter-writing campaign to women who have lost their children -- both sons and daughters -- to police or state violence. We are calling on you to use the power of your pen and uplift our extended mothers with words of affection, appreciation, and support to ensure they are blanketed with love from their extended families across the nation. Each letter we receive will be delivered to a mother who's experienced such a loss, and select letters will be incorporated into future performances of Jeremy McQueen’s A Mother's Rite ballet.

To submit a letter by snail mail, please mail letters to:

The Black Iris Project 2214 Frederick Douglass Blvd., #161,  New York, NY 10026

To submit a  letter electronically, please fill out the form below.