Kim Kardashian has gone through many evolutions since stepping into the spotlight. The reality tv star still holds the title of sex symbol but doesn't herald it quite the way she used to. These days, Kim focuses more on her many business endeavors, as well as studying law. In 2020, Kim reflected on the past. She opened up about plans for the future in several interviews that give insight into who she is today.
Kim appeared on Good Morning America in 2020. There, she discussed the role motherhood and family has played in her change of direction. She references her work with freeing Alice Johnson and notes how her decision impacted her entire family. Kim keeps families in mind when looking at cases, honing in on the larger effects of any one conviction or sentence.
In an interview with CR Fashion Book, whose cover she graces alongside her personal icon, Cher, Kim delves deeper into how her own family has made an impact on her career. She poignantly notes that "raising four black kids in this society" has pushed her harder in her criminal justice career.
Kim Kardashian has been speaking out about how family and motherhood play a role in her path to a criminal justice career. The famous mother of four touched on the importance of family in a 2020 appearance on Good Morning America. Kim recalled thinking about Alice Johnson's family after learning her story.
"I think what drew me to Miss Alice Johnson was just knowing that, you know, a decision she made tore apart her whole family," Kim said.
"She has so many brothers and sisters and kids and grandkids and so I really put myself in her situation thinking, well, what would I have done if I had to feed my children and knowing that a bad choice changed her whole life really made me feel for her and understand her. I feel like she put a face for criminal justice and reform."
Kim teamed up with Oxygen for a documentary, Kim Kardashian West: The Justice Project. She hopes the project will help the public understand how certain people find themselves in these situations with the law.
"I picked cases with completely different situations where very traumatic things have happened — anything from sex trafficking to murders, where if you see what happened to them or what they have done on paper, you would not understand," she explained.
"But once you hear their story and feel like you see what led them to make those choices, you realize that we're not really different from them."
Kim had just completed her first year of law studies. It's difficult to juggle with her many other projects, but she sees it as an investment in her future.
"I mean it's so hard," she said of the journey. "I just finished year one. I'm about to take the baby bar in a few months, which is a necessity in order to continue on for the next three years in California, so it feels good having finished year one. It's very hard."
Kim manages to get her schoolwork in nearly every day. "That's in my afternoons. I go to the office … and then I do my extra reading at home at about 9 p.m.," she explained. "From 9 to 11." It's a packed schedule, one that will continue on for some years as she's not expected to complete the program until 2022.
Kim also opened about about how her children have fueled her passion for criminal justice reform.
"My evolution on this is probably some combination of growing up, getting married, having kids, and my life being so different than what it was when I was starting out," Kim explained to CR Fashion Book. "Now, I feel like I have a duty to myself and to my children more than the public and I want to be a good role model for my kids."
"I’m raising four black kids in this society and our system is so discriminatory against black and brown people," she continued. "I want to do as much as I can to make their lives easier … I never knew much about the system until I started to dig in, and once I learned and saw how many things were wrong, I really couldn’t stop."
Kim also pointed out how her dad's background as a lawyer has always been intriguing to her. With her interest and determination, as well as support from husband Kanye West, she's been able to put her mind to what she believes is her next chapter.
"I remember in the OJ case, I would go be going through it and Kourtney would yell at me: ‘Stop going through all of dad’s stuff!'" Kim recalled on an episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians.
"She was so upset, but I think he would be really proud of me," she continued. "My dad always taught me that hard work is really important and to really commit to things. So my goal would be in like, 10 years, to give up being Kim K and just focus on this and be an attorney and fight for so many deserving people."
That doesn't mean Kim would give up her entire empire, of course. It seems that her influencer and reality TV lifestyles are the facets she's willing to let go of.
"I think that if you really stay focused you can do it all, and I don’t ever plan on slowing down," she said. "I don’t want to! I love running my business and doing everything I’m doing, but I love this the most."
Kim first revealed she was pursuing a law career in the April 2019 edition of Vogue. "I had to think long and hard about this," Kim said of the decision.
"The White House called me to advise to help change the system of clemency, and I’m sitting in the Roosevelt Room with, like, a judge who had sentenced criminals and a lot of really powerful people and I just sat there, like, Oh, [expletive]. I need to know more."
"I would say what I had to say, about the human side and why this is so unfair. But I had attorneys with me who could back that up with all the facts of the case," Kim noted.
"It’s never one person who gets things done; it’s always a collective of people, and I’ve always known my role, but I just felt like I wanted to be able to fight for people who have paid their dues to society. I just felt like the system could be so different, and I wanted to fight to fix it, and if I knew more, I could do more."
It hasn't all been easy. On an episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians, we see how Kanye's support has helped her get through some freak-outs about her workload.
"I think you can get in control of your schedule and you’ve just got to sit back and analyze, like, what are your distractions?" he tells Kim. "Once you manage your time, you’ll be able to manage your time to be able to give attention to me, attention to the kids and attention to law that you’re passionate about."
Later on, Kim speaks about what his support means to her. "So the fact that he is supporting me in this journey, knowing that for the next four years it would take time away from him and our kids, means a lot to me," Kim said.
"[It] gives me the confidence that I really need and that extra push of someone around me to be like, ‘I know you can do it. You got this.’"
