RI Boxing Champion, Filmmaker Shares Story With Hometown

EAST PROVIDENCE, RI — East Providence native Kali Reis, a boxing champion, actress and now filmmaker, paid a visit to her hometown Wednesday to share her story and promote her new film.

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," 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 her education and career has been an incredible journey from her earlier days as a volleyball, basketball and softball player with the East Providence High School Townies, to her boxing career which began at 14 when she began boxing out of Manfredo's Gym, and now staring in and co-writing a movie. Reis said her mom and her late father Frank Reis pushed her, believed in her and always told her she can do it.

Reis starred in and co-wrote the film "Catch the Fair One" with filmmaker Josef Kubota Wladyka. She 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 said.

Reis is a supporter of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMWIG) movement and said she wants to use her knowledge and status to educate those around her. She does this through various events, including hosting free self-defense classes and virtual conversations about MMWIG's work.

Reis has also seen great success as a professional boxer. She's 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 for becoming a role model for the youth of the community and for athletic accomplishments.

"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."