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MARIA JOSÉ, 50 YEARS OLD, is a social worker, resident of Salvador (BA), and has worked with fishing communities for 20 years. He is a member of the Fishermen's Pastoral Council (CPP), the Mahin Collective, the Black Coalition for Rights, and a Specialist in the Rights of Peoples and Traditional Communities from the UFBA Faculty of Law. Zezé, as she likes to be called, carries out a range of advisory work for fishing, shellfish, quilombola, and traditional communities affected by a predatory development model that causes land conflicts, environmental degradation, and human rights violations for these populations. It contributes to the expansion of complaints of environmental racism, legal support, and mobilization to demand solutions from the powers that be. Among the communities monitored are the quilombos Boca do Rio, Riacho de Santo Antônio, Quilombo Zumbi, and communities on Ilha de Maré. The Mangrove inspires Zezé for being the birthplace of many species, a very important ecosystem in the world with immense roots that are in the open air, showing that life must be respected in all its forms.