FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 16, 2022
CONTACT INFO. :
Office of the Mayor
Patricia Resende
(401) 529-3207
Boxing champ, film writer Kali Reis visits her native East Providence
EAST PROVIDENCE, RI – East Providence native, boxing champ and actress Kali Reis visited the City of East Providence to share her story, her passion to help others and to promote the film “Catch the Fair One,” a film she co-wrote with filmmaker Josef Kubota Wladyka.
Reis, a 2004 graduate of East Providence High School, was presented with a key to the City by Mayor Bob DaSilva while members of her family and the community sat in attendance.
“We are very proud of you and proud of everything that you accomplished,” Mayor DaSilva told Reis. “The key to the city is a symbol and reminder that you are always welcome here in the city of East Providence.”
Reis told the audience that her education and career has been an incredible journey from the start. From her earlier days as a volleyball, basketball and softball player with East Providence High School Townies to her boxing career which began at the age of 14 when she began boxing out of Manfredo’s Gym and now with her role in staring in and co-writing “Catch the Fair One.”
In her role, Reis plays a Native American woman who embarks on the fight of her life when she intentionally gets entangled in a human trafficking operation in an effort to retrace the steps of her little sister.
“It’s always been a pleasure of mine to do what people said I can’t do and especially to change the narrative being a bi-racial, mix Cape Verdean because people don’t know what it is,” Reis told those in attendance.
Reis said her mom and her late father Frank Reis pushed her, believed in her and always told her she can do it.
Reis is an active supporter of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMWIG) movement, continuously striving to utilize her knowledge and status to educate those around her.
Today, she continues to use her platform to elevate Native voices and educate her community, hosting various events including free self-defense classes and virtual conversations about the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women epidemic.
She’s a champion on many levels having won the International Boxing Association crown, the World Boxing Council World Middleweight title, and the World Boxing Association and World Boxing Organization Super Lightweight Champion titles.
Earlier this month, Reis was inducted into the North American Indigenous Athletic Hall of Fame (NAIAHF) for becoming a role model for the youth of the community and for her great feats as an athlete.
“It’s been quite the journey and it’s only the beginning and so I’m proud to be proud of this tight-knit community and I’ll always represent Rhode Island and East Providence.”
