UC Riverside

This dissertation is a biographical study that places Jackie “Moms” Mabley within major moments of African American and U.S. cultural history, including the Theater Owners’ Booking Association (T.O.B.A.), the Great Migration, the Harlem Renaissance/New Negro Movement, the black film movement of the 1930s and 1940s, and the civil rights campaigns. Through an analysis of primary sources including comedy recordings, interviews, and newspaper coverage, this dissertation illustrates that Mabley was an artist-activist who used her platform as an entertainer to speak out against racism and sexism, and to raise people’s consciousness about black liberation movements. She was often subtle in her commentary, and by embodying the “Moms” persona when leveling her critiques of Jim Crow and sexism, her statements were more readily accepted by broad audiences. Mabley’s life and comedy is historically significant because she used the stage to discuss the struggles of women and African Americans, while critiquing the inequality and marginalization these groups often faced. Mabley used comedy as a way to engage in social protest by expressing critical commentary about racism, politics, gender issues, and sexuality. Her work was also significant because she exposed multiracial audiences to the forms and traditions of African American humor. Jackie “Moms” Mabley had an intersectional identity that provides a lens to better understand issues of race, gender, and sexuality and how they have worked together historically. This sets her apart from her male contemporaries because using an intersectional lens provides a clearer understanding of race and gender issues than looking at them separately would provide. It is the combination of Mabley’s identity and the content of her comedy that makes her a valuable index for the experiences of black people, especially black women, in early to mid-twentieth century America.