Kim Kardashian countined her prison reform journey with a trip to Pelican Bay Prison in Northern California on this week's episode of The Kardashians.
The episode cuts to Crescent City, California, where Kim and Malika Haqq just landed on Kim’s private plane.
This is just the latest excursion Kim has made to further her attempts at prison reform, with her sister Khloe even hinting she might run for President some day.
Khloe adds in confession, ‘I just feel like Kim can tell me tomorrow she’s running for Presidency and I’m like, “All right, girl, do your thing.” For Kim it’s just like another day.'
‘Malika always asks me about the work that I do and she’s a really empathetic person and I think that she would have a lot to say and has a great platform and I’m just grateful that a new group of people gets to hear and be inspired,' Kim says.
Reform journey: Kim Kardashian countined her prison reform journey with a trip to Pelican Bay Prison in Northern California on this week's episode of The Kardashians
Malika: The episode cuts to Crescent City, California, where Kim and Malika Haqq just landed on Kim’s private plane
On the ride over, Malika says, ‘Is it normal that I’m a little nervous?’ Kim says, ‘There’s nothing to be nervous over. If it’s like a safety issue, like when I first went into like San Quentin, they gave me like a full breakdown, like you’re so safe, you’re so protected. They don’t get people to like come and visit all the time, they’re just grateful to have people to talk to. We’re going to meet with people who were incarcerated, maybe like lifers and had like life sentences and then like got out after 20 years or 25 years. So you’ll get to see that you might have this like stigma of what people are like or what… they’re just like us. They might have made some like choices we wouldn’t have or like just some really bad circumstances that like things like this, I take and I go, OK this is what I wanna teach our boys.’
Kim reveals in confession that they are going to meet with Scott Budnick, who is, ‘the person that brought me to my first prison and he has an organization called the ARC which is Anti-Recidivism Coalition,’ as we see Scott meet Malika and hug Kim.
‘Scott helps so many people get out and I just learn more and more every year and just open myself up to helping so that’s why I’m here,’ Kim says in confession.
Kim tells Scott that Malika was feeling nervous and scared to go, asking him if that’s a ‘normal feeling people have’ when going to visit a prison for the first time.
‘I think it’s a feeling… I mean, I was scared to go the first time,’ Scott says, as Malika adds, ‘OK good, then I feel normal.’
‘When you see the like hope and joy that like you bring, just by showing up, like no one comes here, definitely not a Kardashian, and so, to be able to see people who care, right, and are here just to be supportive, like it’s a beautiful thing,’ Scott tells them.
Scott adds, ‘I think you’ll come out inspired by the guys you meet then like I think you’ll come out hopeful.’
Kim says in confession, ‘We’re gonna meet with a group of prisoners at Pelican Bay Prison to hear what their experiences are like.’
Nervous: On the ride over, Malika says, ‘Is it normal that I’m a little nervous?’ Kim says, ‘There’s nothing to be nervous over'
Confession: Kim reveals in confession that they are going to meet with Scott Budnick, who is, ‘the person that brought me to my first prison and he has an organization called the ARC which is Anti-Recidivism Coalition,’ as we see Scott meet Malika and hug Kim
Nervous: Kim tells Scott that Malika was feeling nervous and scared to go, asking him if that’s a ‘normal feeling people have’ when going to visit a prison for the first time
Inspired: Scott adds, ‘I think you’ll come out inspired by the guys you meet then like I think you’ll come out hopeful'
On the car ride to the prison, Scott tells them, ‘The irony of this place, you’re probably in the most beautiful spot in all of California and like all the healing properties of nature, but no one in the prison gets to experience any of this.’
Kim adds in confession, ‘You know every time Scott calls me and there’s an opportunity or a situation, I definitely want to be a part of it.’
The episode cuts to three hours later - after the visit - because cameras weren’t allowed inside the prison, as Kim, Malika and Scott are on the car ride back.
‘I mean, that’s intense. There’s no way to get away from that,’ Malika says in the car as Kim adds, ‘Yeah, the cages is what really got me.’
‘Our cameras couldn’t come in and see, but it was really powerful. One of the most disconcerting things that I saw was just people inside cages, 12-foot high and probably only like this wide, maybe only like 3 feet wide,’ Kim adds in confession.
‘But I think I wanna be really clear, I believe that if someone does commit a violent crime, there has to be consequences. I think sometimes people feel like anyone who works on reform is just super easy on crime, and that’s not the case. You can just see someone’s rap sheet and just automatically form an opinion on them, but if you understand why they got to the place that let them make those decisions, you would completely change your mind,’ Kim adds in confession.
She adds, ‘Some really deserve second chances and just being open to hearing their story I think is super important.’
Back in the car, Malika adds that, ‘My jaws were so tight because I didn’t want to cry in front of them. Like, I mean, I did end up crying,’ as Scott adds, ‘That’s fine, by the way, because it gives them permission to cry also.’
Ride back: The episode cuts to three hours later - after the visit - because cameras weren’t allowed inside the prison, as Kim, Malika and Scott are on the car ride back
Every time: Opportunity: Kim adds in confession, ‘You know every time Scott calls me and there’s an opportunity or a situation, I definitely want to be a part of it'
Powerful: Powerful: ‘Our cameras couldn’t come in and see, but it was really powerful. One of the most disconcerting things that I saw was just people inside cages, 12-foot high and probably only like this wide, maybe only like 3 feet wide,’ Kim adds in confession
Kim adds in the car, ‘Just the cages killed me. The cages just felt like animals,’ as Scott adds, ‘Malika, when there was crying in the cage and you put your finger up and you guys like touched fingers in the cage… that was… woo…’ as he continues processing the moment.
They head to a local restaurant, as Kim explains in confession, ‘So now we’re going to have lunch with some of the guys from ARC and they’ve all been lifers that have gotten second chances and gotten out and now they work at ARC and even some of the guys have been in Pelican Bay. When you can hear what other people have been through and they can be open and share their stories and then talk about how they never gave up, it’s really inspiring.’
One of the men say that, ‘All of us were incarcerated in the same institution,’ while another says that, ‘on average, everybody spent at least 20 years of incarceration.
They all go around the table and reveal how long their original sentence was, and how much time they actually served, with many receiving life sentences and ultimately served much less.
One of them says, ‘I don’t know how many of you are in therapy’ - as the man next to him raises his hand - as the other continues - ‘I’m proud to admit that my therapist has been a godsend in terms of my healing because like on one hand we’re told we have to be tough because we survived all of this crazy s**t, but like nah man, the world expanding in front of our eyes from these tiny little cages to this great big world is huge.’
Kim says, ‘I always like to ask this because I’m so curious. What was your first meal when you guys got out?’
One man says, ‘In N Out’ while another says, ‘For years I sat in prison and wanted a big old New York steak, I got out that was the first thing I went to do, to get a big old steak.’
Another man says, ‘My jaw was hurting the next day, because we weren’t used to eating meat.’
Lifers: They head to a local restaurant, as Kim explains in confession, ‘So now we’re going to have lunch with some of the guys from ARC and they’ve all been lifers that have gotten second chances and gotten out and now they work at ARC and even some of the guys have been in Pelican Bay
Incarcerated: One of the men say that, ‘All of us were incarcerated in the same institution,’ while another says that, ‘on average, everybody spent at least 20 years of incarceration
Therapy: One of them says, ‘I don’t know how many of you are in therapy’ - as the man next to him raises his hand - as the other continues - ‘I’m proud to admit that my therapist has been a godsend in terms of my healing because like on one hand we’re told we have to be tough because we survived all of this crazy s**t, but like nah man, the world expanding in front of our eyes from these tiny little cages to this great big world is huge'
Steak: One man says, ‘In N Out’ while another says, ‘For years I sat in prison and wanted a big old New York steak, I got out that was the first thing I went to do, to get a big old steak'
Kim adds, ‘I’ve been to prisons before. I’ve experienced this, Malika hasn’t, so this was her first time. The number one thing that I’m hearing that is the problem is not being fixed. Like everyone gets stuck in a cycle of how they grew up, so it’s just like, how do you get people to really make those changes so that they don’t have that like cyclical problem of this same problems growing up with the gangs or growing up with the parents that aren’t there. Like I don’t have the answers.’
Another man adds, ‘Right now, what we’re doing is on the opposite end of the pipeline. People are already getting into prisons, and we’re trying to find a way to get them out and not return. We need to start at the beginning of that pipeline, to say, how can we stop the flow of them ever getting in to begin with, and what comes with that is healthier families, healthier communities. That is how you stop the trans-generational mass incarceration.’
Another man adds, ‘My last year incarcerated they spent over $100,000 a year to keep me in that cage. How much therapy could you provide in a grade school for a youth to help stop them from going to prison?’
Kim says in confession, ‘I just really believe in redemption, I believe in rehabilitation, like who in their life has been perfect and hasn’t made bad decisions?’
Another man asks Kim, ‘What has been the driving point for you to want to be doing the work that you’ve been doing?’
Kim answers, ‘I think I just saw something on Twitter, like a little video someone had made on a girl’s case. She was someone who answered a phone and was like a phone mule, and I was like, “How does this happen? How does that make sense?” It just like opened up my heart. I just really connected to that.’
Kim adds in confession, ‘Once I realized the influence that I have, and that people were listening, I just couldn’t stop and I wanted to get more and more involved.’
They show flashback footage of Kim and her daughter North meeting with Alice Johnson, whose life sentence was commuted by President Donald Trump in 2018, a week after Kardashian met with Trump to discuss prison reform.
Pipeline: Another man adds, ‘Right now, what we’re doing is on the opposite end of the pipeline. People are already getting into prisons, and we’re trying to find a way to get them out and not return. We need to start at the beginning of that pipeline, to say, how can we stop the flow of them ever getting in to begin with, and what comes with that is healthier families, healthier communities. That is how you stop the trans-generational mass incarceration'
Video: Kim answers, ‘I think I just saw something on Twitter, like a little video someone had made on a girl’s case. She was someone who answered a phone and was like a phone mule, and I was like, “How does this happen? How does that make sense?” It just like opened up my heart. I just really connected to that'
100 grand: Another man adds, ‘My last year incarcerated they spent over $100,000 a year to keep me in that cage. How much therapy could you provide in a grade school for a youth to help stop them from going to prison?'
Alice tells North, ‘Your mother is literally in history books now, as a person who championed my case and humanized it.’
Kim said, ‘I was able to help you and then I learned so much along the way and I was like I can’t stop here, there’s so much more I have to do, there’s so many more Alice’s out there, like we have to help. You gave me like purpose,’ as Alice adds, ‘You gave me freedom.’
Back at lunch, Kim explains, ‘And then the President signed the First Step Act, which let out 30,000 people, and my attorneys, they wrote that bill, so it was like a ripple effect and it kept going and then you’re just like wait how can I do more.’
Kim adds in confession, ‘I’ve been working on prison reform work for about five years now, and as time has gone on and as I’ve helped more people, my empathy has grown more and more and I have a lot more compassion, you know, than I did a year ago or that I did 10 years ago. If people have really showed that they can change, why wouldn’t we give people a second chance?’
One of the men thanks Kim, ‘for really putting your heart into making this system better. It means a lot to the men inside, so thank you so much.’
Kim says they all have to take a selfie, and they take one, as Scott asks, ‘What was it like seeing someone with your face tattooed on their body in prison?’ as the men all laugh.
‘I was honored. I was honored. It was cool,’ Kim says as they all share a laugh
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