A seven-year-old boy from Bothell says he wants to tackle racism one book at a time. He's raising money to purchase diverse books for his school and others.
Kohen Lucero has learned to turn pain into power from a young age.
"A girl told mom on Valentine's Day... she and her friends didn't like me because of the color of my skin," said Kohen.
Kohen says that was an experience that made him feel sad and angry, but he knew he wanted to forgive the girl immediately.
The 7-year-old says ending racism includes smiling at everyone, learning about Black history and supporting Black authors and business owners.
For many Black children, conversations about racism start early. That's no different for Kohen, who was adopted by his non-black family.
"We've been buying him books that have brown characters in them, you know, and white, all different kinds of characters," said Kohen's mom, Sara.
It was natural for Kohen to want to fight racism the only way he knew how.
He created the #TeamEndRacism GoFundMe campaign, raising more than $5,600 to purchase diverse books, markers and colored pencils for his elementary school
A surprise to Kohen, actor Sean Gunn found about about the #TeamEndRacism campaign, and shared it on his Instagram page, helping Kohen raise more money to purchase diverse books.
After receiving so much support, Kohen is expanding his campaign to donate books to other schools throughout Western Washington.