Christin A. Mujica, is a Clinical Psychology Ph.D. student at the University of Arkansas, USA. She is a Queer White Latina who was born and raised in Miami, Florida, USA. Christin’s overall research focus is how all forms of racism (i.e., internalized, interpersonal, and systemic) impact the mental health of people of color. Growing up in a predominantly Latinx community and in a privileged body, she often assumed her community was beyond racism. It was not until she left her hometown for college that she began to understand the complexities of multiple intersecting identities, how one is racialized in a predominantly White setting, and how skin color can impact one’s experiences. She found that the 2016 election further highlighted the divide there was within Latinx (and other people of color) communities, even in her own family. She approached this research with a growing understanding of how people of color can harm other people from their same racial group. It is through these experiences that the questions for this qualitative study were formed and later reinforced by theoretical concepts in the psychological literature.
Dr. Ana J. Bridges is a licensed clinical psychologist and Professor in the Department of Psychological Science at the University of Arkansas, USA. She was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and immigrated to the United States with her parents and brother when she was a child. Dr. Bridges conducts research on mental health disparities. She is especially interested in understanding and addressing the factors that facilitate or impede vulnerable, underserved, and marginalized populations from seeking mental health care or benefitting from treatment once it is sought. She is also interested in addressing and reducing violence victimization in vulnerable groups, including sexual violence and race-based victimization.