Doin it for the Gram: an exploration of Black women comedians online vernacular

Comedian Mo'Nique's use of Instagram to engage in a critical vernacular about the racist and sexist discrimination that she encountered, spoke to the contemporary relationship that Black women have to labor. As cultural critics, Black women comedians work often accounts for the ways that the intersections of race, class, and gender shape their lived experiences and their ability to participate in their livelihoods. While Mo'Nique spoke to her experiences as a Black woman comedian and actor, I argue that the struggles she articulated are a microcosm of the historical and ongoing relationship that Black women have to labor. Her criticism of these realities are key to understanding the ways that Black women comedians as cultural critics can engage in Black feminist practice through their use of vernacular and how social media sites like Instagram function as an emerging platform for these world making discourses to be expressed.