She is the celebrated publicist and first wife of boxer Muhammad Ali. She is an author in her own right and she is one of Deerfield Beach’s newest residents. But the woman known as Belinda Boyd before she married Ali at the age of 17 in 1967 spoke to Deerfield Beach residents not as a humanitarian or historian, but as a Mom.

In a wide-ranging speech, the pivotal event of the Martin Luther King Jr. celebration at Westside Park, Khalilah Camacho-Ali urged women, in particular, to embrace their roles as leaders in the family, in society and in the formation of the next generation.

“…We are the mothers of civilization,” the mother of four began, in speech that was equal parts conversation and gospel. “Men need us to be kind to them, to give them hope. .. If they feel good about themselves, coming from you? They can conquer the world.”

Ali knows of what she speaks. She is credited with re-branding Cassius Clay as Mohammad Ali. In a new documentary, The Trials of Muhammad-Ali, she tells of his conversion to Islam and of his refusal to serve in the Vietnam War, despite facing a five-year prison sentence. The decisions got him banned from boxing , a belief in conscience over fame that resonates today.

On Monday, the mother of four Ali children reminded women in a packed auditorium at Westside Park to be true to themselves, and to begin by respecting themselves.

“Sisters, cover yourself up…You are so beautiful. You don’t need to show everything you got,” she said with the lilting cadence of a Sunday sermon. “Let men have imagination for a change. Let them dream about what they think they are going to get. Say a kind word…fully clothed…Make it happen and work it, girl. If they feel good about themselves, coming from you, they can conquer the world.”

She urged parents to keep the family sacrosanct. “You need to grow up and set an example for these children, so they can grow up and be mamas, not baby mamas,” she said. “You got a disagreement? Take it in a room somewhere – don’t let them hear your garbage.”

“Remember love – and cast out the old stuff,” she continued. “You got old stuff in the refrigerator. What do you do? You throw it out!”

“You have greatness inside of you right now so be careful,” Camacho-Ali cautioned. “If you throw that away on drugs and alcohol, you are missing out on the greatness that is there.”

Camacho-Ali said later she came to Deerfield Beach initially to care for a distant relative. But now, she said, she is shopping for a house.

“I want to thank the Deerfield Beach community for calling me and asking me to be part of this beautiful, beautiful event,” she told her audience on Monday. “It’s not over! I’m coming back!”