ABOUT THIS PODCAST: Kali “KO” Mequinonag Reis, a Seaconke Wampanoag boxer, joins us in this episode of the Native Hope Podcast. As a former 3x Middleweight World Champion in boxing—the first indigenous woman to hold this title, she describes fighting as her “version of prayer”. Having Grown up in the Eastern part of Turtle Island, she recalls her early years before she discovered her calling as a fighter. KO regards fighting as her “job” and feels that this is what she has been placed here to do. She uses this form of expression as a means of perseverance, having been wrongfully assaulted in her neighborhood at the age of twelve. Taking the energy of this experience, she gravitated towards this self-defense discipline. She channels many energies when she is in the ring, “mustering” up the weight of genocide, MMIWG and sadness, which she releases while she fights. Challenges outside expectations and perceptions of race and strives to balance her life, working towards gratitude and humility.
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