As a child of Iraqi immigrants, I grew up attempting to reconcile my identity within two cultures: one that encourages individualism with another that remains unchanging, frozen in time, and deeply rooted in tradition. I want to be clear here: I highly value my Assyrian culture, but being a Middle Eastern woman living in the United States can present you with a vicious dichotomy to dissect and come to terms with; calling for raw self-reflection about what it even means to be a woman.

Observing the men and women around me and growing to understand how they became models for my own mentality and behavior opened my mind to the ways in which patriarchy survives through the suppression of women. By recognizing these mirrored images in myself, I desired nothing more than to heal my wounds.

The intricacies of pacifying the opposition of both my cultures and studying Latin America at USF allowed me to  feel connected to a region that once seemed so foreign to me, and ultimately see that I simply wasn’t alone. Patriarchy spans oceans and continents, indiscriminate of geographical location, affecting both women and men buried in the system. Nevertheless, the liberty I could grant myself from these chains came to light through creative communication, from photography to expository writing to creative fiction and poetry. I found my freedom in self-expression, and through the connections I made while telling my story.

Diosa Vida, created by artists Ji la Zand and Jazzminah, is a fresh model for social inclusion and revolution that our society desperately needs; a model I have personally sought for some time. It creates a space allowing for the healing of wounds left from  deeply embedded historical and cultural traumas, empowering queens and warmly welcoming “evolved kings” to join together and find unity in our complexities.

What is the Diosa Tribe?

JI & JAZZ: Diosa Tribe is an art collective and culture that connects chingonas (badass women) and evolved kings through artistic expression. We house visual artists, healers, DJs, producers, lyricists, publicists, and activists to represent ancient knowledge in an urban space. Diosa Tribe is the macrocosm that houses all the collaborative and individual work that is created by the artists that we work with, Diosa Vida being one of its many components. Diosa Vida is a recording and visual collaboration between Ji la Zand & Jazzminah.  

What does it mean to live the Goddess Life? Where did this concept come from and how was this all created? 

JI & JAZZ: To live the goddess life (or be an evolved king) means that you acknowledge your inner divinity, strengths, and weaknesses - your dark and your light. It's about tapping into an ancient knowledge that was given to you from your family, heritage, and community. You then take that knowledge and utilize it to empower yourself and others in an urban reality using technology (internet, visual media, mobile devices, etc). We call this landscape the Mystic Hood - a place where people are reconnecting with an ancient knowledge that has been temporarily forgotten. To live as a Goddess or an Evolved King is to accept that every person is another version of yourself - and to treat them as such. 

The concept grew from vulnerability. We met while studying at UC Berkeley and were both in a place where we needed a community of like-minded powerful women who were ready to start a cultural revolution. We met in Ji's Berkeley apartment almost everyday - talking about our family's journey to America, our baba's history as rebel fighters, Mexican healing wisdom, hip hop, digging through vintage Middle Eastern music & fashion...and of course, supporting each other through heartbreak, identity issues, and making sense of our complexity (complexity - not confusion). 

As women we’re taught, in many ways, to compete with one another rather than lift each other up. How do you foster the space where women can support one another?

JI & JAZZ: Yes, operating in a patriarchal society we're taught to compete, especially if you're a woman. This competition is not just limited towards our skills and our career, but also targeted at our perception of our sexuality and beauty. Diosa Tribe provides physical spaces like our retreats, bazaars, photoshoots, and other productions that foster empowerment of all beauty and internal powers. These are spaces where we can represent the women we already are and inspire each other to continuously evolve into diosas. There is no hierarchy or judgment, but rather knowledge exchanged. We firmly believe that we are products of our environment, therefore we possess a competitive nature. However, it is during our creative process and gatherings that we are able to challenge that norm with discussions about healing and rebalancing. 

I find the entire concept revolutionary. Has the presence of the patriarchal mentality influenced the creation of Diosa Vida? How has your personal experience played a part in bringing women together in this way?

JI: I was raised by strong men (my father and two big brothers) who taught me a lot of important things about life: standing up for myself, being well read, taking pride in my heritage, working hard, and being heard. Some of these could be classified as masculine, but other essential lessons were definitely not. They also taught me to have compassion, remember those who have less than you, love unconditionally, and the importance of quality in music, food, style, etc. Coming from Middle Eastern Latino men, society may claim them to be patriarchal, but that is not the way I was raised. If anything, they taught me how to notice the patriarchy in other settings, which allowed me to really understand it and play with it in my art and daily life. I actually grew up idolizing a lot of men, starting with my brothers and then moving on to political figures, musicians, comedians, thinkers, artists, and activists. Thanks to the strong male presence in my upbringing, I’ve learned to notice the authenticity of a man’s intentions. 

JAZZ: The dynamic I love about Ji and I is that we’re opposites in everything (from upbringing to hairstyles). We're the embodiment of finding balance in extremes. I was raised under the supervision of a matriarch, including my Latina single mother, grandmother, great grandmother, aunts, and honorary godmothers. Everyday was revolutionary for me, since these women hustled their limited resources together to survive and raise our family in Pacoima, CA. To us, war zones occurred in the forms of gang violence, domestic abuse, and heartbreak. All were usually steeped in patriarchal or machista tropes, but my mom and her female tribe never acted as victims nor did they man-hate. Instead, they lived by the "It is what it is" mantra and dismantled power dynamics via strong work ethic, ownership of their sensuality, and knowledge exchange on self-care/healing. This is what really inspired me to build Diosa Tribe. I was raised by women honoring each other's power and not feeling threatened, and I needed this dynamic growing into my artistry and womanhood. 

JI & JAZZ: Diosa Vida is taking our experience of growing up in an inevitable patriarchal society and then twisting it to represent a revolution against the system. Our tactic of revolt is revolutionary in itself because we are not going to hate men or violently speak out against patriarchy, but rather embed our purpose of female empowerment into our art through a beautiful and captivating aesthetic. This way, people don't even know they're digesting a revolution. It's sort of like the sirens, but a punk rock version - one of them has a camera and the other has a pen.

How does your personal work as artists and emcees connect to the movement? What role have your own crafts and art had in the creation of Diosa Vida?

JI: I've practiced my art my whole life. Growing up, I gathered so much inspiration that there would be moments when I didn't know what to do with all of it - stories from my baba about Kurdistan, 90s hip hop, social movements, political theory, Mexico, fashion, travel & culture, strong women...there was so much! I always did things like spend hours on Photoshop, be creative with my clothes, write, record weird songs, make playlists, or dream of participating in some kind of revolution...but I never felt like I had anywhere to put all of it. 

As I got older, I began taking my photography more seriously, then photography evolved into video, and Diosa Vida was born in the midst of all of that. The perspective that I bring through my art is the importance of communicating things visually - through photography, video, fashion, writing. For me, everything is visual, even writing, and that's what I believe is really important for any type of social change, allowing people to see ideas and visualize them as radically as you want them to be seen. 

When I met Jazzmin, it's like everything fell into place. Everything made sense with Diosa Vida. We started rapping and that became just another art form to express my visions. And it's been so fun because I feel like I can finally channel that 90s hip hop I grew up idolizing while telling my story. I'm a photographer, videographer, writer/emcee, and fashion lover. Through Diosa Vida & Diosa Tribe, I want women to continue to express themselves visually, but remember that it's important to gather inspiration from all aspects of your life. I believe that makes one's art stronger and more true. Whatever medium you're working through - a camera, clothes, a pen, an instrument, anything - being a Diosa is about telling your story. 

JAZZ: I've written poetry since grammar school and performed/taught spoken word at UC Berkeley. After graduating in 2012, I did some soul searching on how to use my gift of gab. Originally, the plan was law school (because I wanted to be a good Persian daughter), but that didn't sit well. Then I tried out a really crappy relationship and things got dark. But as the poet Nizar Qabbani said, "a moon will rise from my darkness", and it truly did. My poetry started becoming more lyrical and I started experimenting with layering poems over old boom bap beats and middle eastern instrumentals. I met Ji around the time I wanted to start a female hip hop collective, aka Diosa Vida. We would stay in Ji's living for hours, sometimes days, just freestyling, writing and exchanging our histories. It felt so empowering to find a Diosa in alignment with my truth.

I'm also a healer which is another outlet for my creativity. My grandmother was a curandera and passed down ancestral healing modalities and morals. So in honor of my roots and love, I energetically heal people with reiki, yoga, food, words, oils and anything that resonates really. I'm forever learning new ways to become a chingona healer, which helps the Diosa Tribe group dynamic.... because the truest artists have some of the darkest histories.

Currently, Ji and I are working on our debut EP called "The Garden", which is a metaphor for seeking the beauty in spaces of war. Persian-Kurdish poetry celebrates the garden as an oasis from reality. It's that liminal space to seek refuge when things get wild, or to become more sensitive to emotions such as heartbreak, love of the divine, and love of self. "The Garden" is a mashup of all the above.

What do you want other women to know about you and your movement? If someone wants to get involved, how can they do so?

JI & JAZZ: If you're too complex for binaries, exhausted from being called a bad bi***, or just curious about creating with diosas and evolved kings from all types of melanin. You can reach us on social media @diosavida. Our tribe practices radical inclusivity, so hit us up.