Natalha Theofilo, quilombola (Afro-Brazilian resident of a community founded by escaped slaves), human rights defender, and representative of Brazil’s rainforest communities, lives in Anapu, in the state of Pará, the city where the American nun Dorothy Stang was murdered in 2005. She has been in hiding with her family since the start of the Brazilian elections, and will remain so for the duration of the second-round run-off.

Natalha has written a letter in which she describes the experience of living in exile with her husband, the rural labor activist Erasmo Theofilo, and their four small children. In this video, the actor Denise Fraga reads her words. “I will never know what it’s like to be a black woman. But I want to use my voice to help Natalha be heard,” she says. Watch the video here.