Moms Mabley: Jet Magazine, 1974

Loretta Mary Aiken (1894-1975) aka Jackie “Moms” Mabley was a trailblazing Black lesbian stand up comedian and actress. After coming out as a lesbian in 1921 she preformed in adrogynous clothing and recording many lesbian stand up routines. As she became more popular amongst other comedies, she began to take a more motherly role and soon adopted the name “Moms”. From the 1960’s and beyond she used this nonthreatening grandmother persona in order to address difficult topics such as racism, colorism and sexuality. In a way Moms was an activist, she brought issues that were central to the Black community to light. There is not a lot of information on Jackie Mabley’s love life, it is said she was very openly gay and butch in presentation, especially in her early years, but it is telling how little information there is on her sexaulity given how open she was about it.