King Twins’ New Song “Color Blind” Debuts on Thanksgiving Day

By Rick Hynum
Special to Hottytoddy.com

“Color Blind,” the new single and music video produced by Nashville recording artist Trae Edwards, premieres worldwide on Thursday, Nov. 22, offering an uplifting message of love and racial healing. The song, co-written by Margaret and Katherine King of Oxford, will be available for purchase and streaming on all digital platforms, including Amazon, iTunes, Google Play, iHeart Radio, Spotify, and Pandora.

Inspired by the heartwarming true story of a lifelong friendship between the King sisters, a pair of white Mississippi twins, and an African-American woman they met in childhood, “Color Blind” is a stirring anthem of racial reconciliation. Photo provided.

Parts of the video were shot on Sept. 2 outside the Lafayette County Courthouse in Oxford. The video features the King sisters prominently as well as many local residents.

Inspired by the heartwarming true story of a lifelong friendship between the King sisters, a pair of white Mississippi twins, and an African-American woman they met in childhood, “Color Blind” is a stirring anthem of racial reconciliation. The duet features powerful, heartfelt vocal performances by Edwards and contemporary R&B singer/actress Eliz Camacho.

The King sisters wrote the lyrics to “Color Blind,” which composer Geron Davis, best known for the song “Holy Ground,” set to music. They dedicated the song to their dear friend, Josephine Sanders of Vicksburg, Mississippi. The twins met Sanders in 1957 while spending part of the summer with their grandmother in Vicksburg. Tagging along with Sanders, the kind-hearted African-American caregiver to their great-grandmother, the twins roamed the historic river town by bus and on foot and learned, under Josephine’s gentle tutelage, some hard lessons about life for black Americans in the so-called “separate-but-equal” Jim Crow era. Despite being relegated to the margins of society—forced to sit in the back of the bus and to always walk behind the white children on public sidewalks—Sanders set for the twins a shining example of empathy, courage and compassion.

In 2014, the King sisters, who had already penned a pair of lighthearted memoirs about their childhood (“Y’all Twins?” in 2012 and “Which Is Which?” in 2013), published their third book, “Our Josephine.” The nonfiction book details their friendship with the woman who had motivated them to lead lives of service to others.

In 2017, the twins wrote the lyrics to “Color Blind,” hoping to encourage others to look past differences in skin color and recognize the shared humanity of all races. The lyrics express their vision of a better America in which people like Josephine are not marginalized but celebrated as examples of humankind at its finest.

Edwards has had a long and varied career in Nashville. He is a producer, professional photographer and mixing and mastering engineer. He started singing in front of crowds at the age of seven. He has performed with Naomi and Wynonna Judd, Alison Krauss and Trace Adkins, among others, and appeared in several of the Gaithers’ Homecoming Series videos. He released his first album, “I Believed,” in 2013, then followed up with and co-produced the album, “Voices,” in 2015, which featured performances by William Lee Golden and Joe Bonsall of the Oak Ridge Boys, Larry Stewart of Restless Heart and others.

Camacho competed on the 15th season of “American Idol” and has appeared in films like “High School Musical 2” and “Changing the Game.” She released her debut single, “Get Loose,” in 2011 and has performed on stage with artists such as Boyz II Men, Omarion, Yolanda Adams, Kelly Price, and Robin Thicke. Her album, “Unfinished Letter,” debuted in 2016, the same year she competed on “American Idol.”

Davis is an Adult Christian Contemporary composer with a long list of awards, who has created songs for superstars like Barbra Streisand. Davis’ song, “Holy Ground,” was sung at the funeral of President Bill Clinton’s mother in 1994.