With Ishtar at the helm, this tribe of skate girls symbolises the “essence” of skateboarding: “Being brave, every single minute,” she says, something with which local youth are familiar with. Iraq has one of the youngest populations in the world with nearly 60% under 25; most of them have grown up amid conflict and waves of social instability, sectarianism and stagnant policies. Yet their agency is growing, and people like Ishtar are providing them with the tools to flourish – changing the country through community.
“I call my Baghdad Skate Girls project ‘reclaiming public spaces’, because when my mum lived in Iraq she could do sports, girls could play in the streets and no one would think it’s strange – that’s what we’re reclaiming, our right to be here. We’ve put in a lot of work to protect our community and to make it accepted.
“When I came to Iraq I said: ‘I am going to change this country,’ and everyone laughed at me,” she continues. “They think this means being president, but for me it’s working on these communities that will grow.” Many of the skaters can already feel themselves rolling towards a brighter future, including Dania. “What Ishtar and the skatepark are offering, it’s changing the next generation of Iraqis through sports. It’s happening, I can feel it and everyone around me can feel it, too.”
Dalia Dawood is a freelance journalist. Follow her on Instagram.
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