Two Memphis students’ personal struggles inspired them to perform an act of kindness viewed by millions after a video was posted to Facebook. 

Martin Luther King College Prep students Antwain Garrett, 16, and Kristopher Graham, 14, wanted to help Micheal Todd, a fellow classmate who had been bullied by students for wearing the same clothes during the first few weeks of school.

“I know how it feels to have nothin’,” Garrett said. “I don’t have much, but it makes me feel better by seeing somebody else happy.”

Garrett and his family recently lived in a house with no lights, and students had made fun of him for that. Graham and his family lived in a hotel for six months, waiting for things to turn around. 

“I used to go to school with busted-up shoes and stuff, until then my life had changed, and I wanted his life to change, too,” Graham said.

Graham was one of the students who harassed Todd, 14, during the first weeks of school, but then he and Garrett gathered clothes and shoes to give Todd. A video of the gift was recorded by one of Garrett’s friends. It’s been seen millions of times on the Internet: On one Facebook post, it was viewed more than 4 million times. 

The City of Memphis recognized the three teens Tuesday at a City Council meeting, where City Councilman Berlin Boyd called them “exemplary citizens.”

The three teenagers received national recognition when they appeared on the “Ellen” show in Los Angeles, where they met Ellen DeGeneres and actor Will Smith, one of their favorite celebrities.

“Just imagine your childhood idol (Smith), he wanted to see you,” Graham said. “That’s cool.”

It was also the first time the three students had ever been on an airplane. Garrett said while it was exciting, he was “scared at first.”

“I watch too many movies,” he said. “I was thinking about ‘Snakes on a Plane.’ ”

The students left the “Ellen” show with clothes from Smith’s New Balance line, and DeGeneres gave each of them a $10,000 check, in partnership with Shutterfly. Graham and Todd plan to save the money, while Garrett, who wants to become a diesel mechanic, said he will put it toward trade school.

And the three students have received lots of supportive texts.

“I was getting text messages from kids and grown people, that was like ‘that video made me cry,’ ‘it changed my life, because I’ve been bullied my whole life’,” Garrett said. “We made a difference all around the world.”

Todd’s popularity at school changed significantly after the video. “It was the best moment of my life,” said Todd about the gift from Garrett and Graham. 

After their appearance on the “Ellen” show, they got Smith’s autograph. Once they returned home, a fellow student asked for their autographs. “I didn’t know how to do cursive, but I tried my best,” Todd said.

The limelight may dim, but the three students bonded because of the moment.

“I want people to hear us out about stopping bullying, and being kind is cool,” Garrett said.