Candy Martínez has a Ph.D. in Latin American and Latina/o Studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz and is a first-generation college student who grew up in Tongva and Chumash lands (the West San Fernando Valley). Though she did not live in a Zapotec community in Oaxaca, Mexico she identifies with her Zapotec roots and relations to Zapotec communities in Los Angeles. She is currently a UC President’s Postdoc at UCLA in the Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance. Her research interests include cultural memory, Indigenous epistemologies, emotional healing, cine comunitario, and decoloniality. Her research stems from a commitment to expanding the language of emotional wellness beyond pathologies and incorporating the value of Indigenous knowledge to rethink healing and emotional distress.