Kim Kardashian West: Conversations with victims of Parkland massacre inspired activism
LOS ANGELES, Calif. (FOX 11) - Kim Kardashian West said that conversations with victims of the massacre in Parkland, Florida, changed her life.
Survivors of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School became activists, touring the country pushing for gun control reform & youth participation in elections.
"I said if these kids are so motivated and they're not even 20 and I have such a huge voice, I was inspired by them to use it! I would encourage other people, if you strongly believe in something, really hold firm to that," Kardashian West told FOX 11's Elex Michaelson during a one-on-one interview.
Kim's online voice is quite "huge". She has 133 million followers on Instagram, 60 million followers on Twitter and 29 million followers on Facebook.
She decided to use her platform to promote criminal justice reform after hearing the story of Alice Johnson. Kim helped convince President Trump to commute her sentence.
"I had no connection to anyone who has actually been to prison. So, I've always been about what's fair. So when I saw Alice's case and I saw that was so unfair…when I thought, if I could do something to help her. I was going to try," she said.
Kardashian West worked with the President's son-in-law Jared Kushner and liberal activist Van Jones to push a bipartisan prison reform bill called the First Step Act. It's one of the few meaningful, bipartisan pieces of legislation to pass in the increasingly partisan Washington.
Elex asked Kim about seeing the bill help people: "It makes me want to do more. It makes me proud and it makes me want to do more to help as many people as I can."
On her E! reality show "Keeping up with the Kardashians," Kim has visited Skid Row and worked on homelessness issues in Los Angeles.
"The mental health issue really needs a light shined on it. There's so much more we can do, especially in Los Angeles. It's crazy on Skid Row," she said.
Kardashian West is continuing her work as an entrepreneur as well. Her latest partnership is with sunglasses designer Carolina Lemke. Why this partnership?
"If I can partner someone that I have full control over from the ad campaign to the concept to the press box, to the design of the glasses to every last detail…that's a partnership that I really want to be a part of!" she said.
Kim added: "I wanted stuff to be fun, I wanted the price points to be accessible."
She even picked out some glasses for Elex to try on.
To find out more about the glasses, visit CarolinaLemke.com.