A D.C. man who was released from prison with the help of Kim Kardashian is paying it forward by steering the teens in his community away from violence and crime.
Momolu Stewart and his friend Kareem McCraney were teens when they were convicted of shooting and killing 23-year-old Mark Rosebure in 1999.
After serving two decades in prison, reality TV star Kim Kardashian used her celebrity to help Stewart get out in 2019.
Stewart went right back to his old Northeast D.C. neighborhood Langston Terrace, where he is now an ally in the community.
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"Not only am I paying it forward, but I feel like this is my purpose," Stewart said. "At one time I was lost. I was lost out here and uh committed a lot of atrocities and went through a lot of calamities myself."
He and McCraney, who was also released from prison, are now working in D.C. neighborhoods where people don't often get second chances.
"It all boils down to just trying to save their life," McCraney said.
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The pair has created a program for teens and young adults who may only understand their hard knocks life lesson.
Whether it's through a mobile music studio, workout sessions, or blunt conversations — the program comes in many forms
"My goal for them is not to make them into me, but to make them into the best them that they can be," Stewart said.
"If you can get into them intimate spaces with them, like we do, then you can really, really get down to a lot of the root causes of their problems and really help them," McCraney said.
