Kali Reis, an American professional boxer and actress, openly identifies as both Cape Verdean and Native American. In addition to sports and entertainment, Reis is a passionate supporter of cultural heritage. She fully embraces her identity and heritage and actively supports the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) campaign. Read on to know more about Kali Reis’ nationality and family. Kali Reis started boxing at the age of fourteen. She had a successful amateur career before turning professional.
Reis is best known as a former two-division world champion, who held the WBC women’s middleweight title in 2016 and won the WBA, WBO and IBO women’s welterweight titles from 2020 to 2022. Reis began her acting career in 2021, appearing in Catch the Fair One, which earned her a Best Actress nomination at the Independent Spirit Awards. She later expanded her acting career by landing the role of co-star in True Detective: Nightland in 2024.
Outside the ring, Reis is a champion of the MMIWG movement, which inspired her to collaborate with director Josef Kubot Wladyk on the film “Get the Honest One”. Kali Reis shows exceptional flexibility, as she has left an impact on both sports and entertainment with her boxing and acting career.
Ethnicity of Kali Reis: Where is she from?
Reis was born on August 24, 1986 in Providence, Rhode Island. She is the youngest of five siblings, all raised by her mother in East Providence. Klai Reis is proud of her heritage, claiming Cape Verdean descent and identifying as Cherokee and Nipmuc. Reis proudly embraces her identity as a member of the unrecognized Seaconke Wampanoag tribe of Massachusetts. Furthermore, Kali shared that as a young woman she actively participated in powwows, showing her commitment to cultural customs.
Her boxing name, “KO Mequinonoag”, is derived from her mother’s name Mequinonoag, meaning “many feathers” or “many talents”. Furthermore, Reis is a strong advocate and advocate for the Campaign for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG). Later, the director Josef Kubota Wladyka was inspired by Reis’s advocacy, which led him to propose a joint work that grew into the film Catch the Fair One.
Kali Reis Family: Parents and Siblings
Patricia Rain Gentle and Edward Reis welcomed their son Reis into the world in 1986. Kali seems to have a strong bond with her mother, even though her father left after her parents split up. He considers his mother, Patricia, the most important person in his life. Patricia raised Kali and her siblings on her own when her parents divorced. She instilled in her children a strong sense of pride in their Seaconke Wampanoag ancestry. Patricia also acts as their tribe’s medicine lady, offering valuable spiritual advice.
In addition, Reis had four siblings: three boys and one sister. Growing up, Kali says she struggled to keep up with the activities of her two older brothers, resulting in her “boyish” and athletic personality. Sadly, Reis lost one of her brothers, Drew, at the age of 33. She later paid tribute to him by dedicating a battle to him, calling him her “superhero in real life”. Furthermore, Kali has a close relationship with her mother and other siblings in her life.
Categories: Entertaintment
Source: HIS Education