Ritual4Return

05/13/2026

Ritual4Return’s 14-week homecoming rite for people returning from incarceration debuts in South Jersey May 9 at Collingswood’s Perkins Center for the Arts.

04/20/2026

If you're in either the NYC or Philadelphia area, please condider coming out to support a group of women (Newark) and/or a group of men (Collingswood) who are undertaking their homecoming rites of passage after serving years, and sometimes decades, behind bars. These are powerful events that invite the whole community to do what the State cannot—welcome them home and acknowledge the change they've undertaken within themselves while behind bars. Believe me when I tell you that these are powerful and healing event, for everyone. All events are free of charge and all are welcome. https://ritual4return.org/events/?fbclid=IwY2xjawRTZGZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeFDm7Nq5AzKp5WcOe4Kiou8tDJWW15Spkg5gn9VEh-0_HGwHy7N_bBh1W7uU_aem_3IcL7f6_YbtuRURT-xXnzw

EVENTS Home Events Events May 2, 2026Women's Rite of PassageNew Jersey Performing Arts CenterChase Room1 Center StreetNewark, NJ 0710212:30 pm Doors Open1:00pm Pre-ritual Audience Workshop3:00pm Ritual4Return5:00 Community DinnerTo RSVP, visit: bit.ly/njpacreturn May 9, 2026 Men's Rite of PassagePer...

04/03/2026

Proud to share that R4R executive director, Kevin Bott, recently had his co-edited book, Performing Emancipatory Rites of Passage, published by Routledge Press. R4R is featured prominently and includes 10 chapters highlighting how artists and scholars are adapting, rethinking, and fully inventing new rites of passage as vehicles for transformation, healing, and liberation in many different contexts, including the criminal punishment system. Routledge has just reduced the price on their website AND is offering an additional 20% off with this code: 26AFLY1. Thanks for your support!

Performing Emancipatory Rites of Passage illuminates an unexpected connection between ancient ritual structures and contemporary applied theater practices. The book’s interdisciplinary case studies, by contributors from Performance Studies, Music, Anthropology, Black Studies, Education, Psychology...

10/24/2025

“With lessons come blessings, With test come testimonies”🙏🏽

Omnayah Mallard story of healing,family and power. Author of “From The Inside Out”🤍⭐️

04/29/2025

https://www.nj.com/mosaic/2025/04/ritual4return-helping-the-formerly-incarcerated-reintegrate-into-society.html

Innovative 14-week program uses theater, poetry, and storytelling to help returning citizens overcome shame and trauma.

01/25/2025

Honored to be included in this amazing group of grantees! Thank you New Jersey Council for the Humanities for your support and partnership! ❤️💪🏻🙏

We've just awarded $205,716 in grant awards to 17 projects in 10 NJ counties! Get to know them at https://njhumanities.org/grantees-2025-r1/

120 East State
Asbury Park African-American Music Project
ANJEC
Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice
CavanKerry Press
coLAB Arts
Mahwah Museum
Monmouth Museum
Montclair Film
Newark History Society
Passaic County
Piscataway Public Library
Preservation New Jersey
Ritual4Return
South Jersey Culture and History Center
The Moving Architects
Willingboro Community Development Corporation

10/14/2024

Proud to announce R4R has been selected as the 2024 Katz Prize winner for Excellence in Public Humanities.

CELEBRATING EXCELLENCE IN PUBLIC HUMANITIES THE STANLEY N. KATZ PRIZE 2024 KATZ PRIZE WINNER Ritual 4 Return Through ritual, literature, storytelling, and public dialogue, Ritual4Return (R4R) uses the humanities to facilitate personal and societal transformation, helping to reshape the narrative aro...