I have spent plenty of time over the past few years talking with Black Lives Matter activists about their work. The conversations are usually about things like systems and policies, strategies for winning change and the path forward. In these moments, just as when we see them taking to the streets in protest, activists come off as strong and resolute, unflappable and resilient.

But there is a quieter reality of activism: the mental and emotional hardship of the work, and the resulting stress and depression that sometimes make it difficult to even get out of bed.

Though this is not often talked about in the open, it is evident to anyone paying close attention. Over the past two years at least five prominent activists have died. Two of them were suicides. One was from a heart attack at age 27. The other two were homicides, which speaks to the pressures of activism, too — the work they do often antagonizes the police, and so many are wary of turning to the state for protection.

We decided to explore this topic after Muhiyidin Moye, an activist in Charleston, was fatally shot in New Orleans last month. What led activists to die young and how were those deaths affecting people in the movement?