“We’re filming a music video,” Margaret King shouted at a crowd of people walking on the Square. “Come be a part of it!”
That music video was for a song called “Color Blind” by the King Twins, a group consisting of Margaret and her sister Katherine. These identical twins, who are local authors and musicians, joined with residents and students on the Square on Sunday afternoon to film the video.
More than 100 Oxonians and university students formed a circle in front of the Lafayette County Courthouse in celebration of Oxford’s diverse community. The King sisters said they believe that Oxford is an inclusive and caring community, so it was the perfect location for the video.
The goal of Sunday’s shoot was to have a diverse group of people holding hands in front of the courthouse and swaying to the beat of “Color Blind,” a song about what it means to accept people of different races. The twins hope to signify the unity of people with all different identities and backgrounds.
“‘Color Blind’ is about respect, one person to another, regardless of skin color,” Margaret said. “People can choose to be kind and thoughtful, and they can choose to be ‘color blind,’ which means seeing someone for who they are and not judging someone based on the color of their race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religious affiliation or physical abilities.”
The inspiration for the song comes from the twins’ lifelong relationship with their great-grandmother’s caregiver Josephine Sanders, who was a mentor for the two sisters throughout their childhood.
“She was our first African American friend in a separate-but-equal society, and we soon realized our society was separate, but not equal,” Margaret said. “We saw the inequalities of the times through her eyes.”
The twins even published a book, “Our Josephine,” which describes what it meant to the twins to grow up with a close friend who was treated differently than they were.
“We could never forget what Josephine paid forward to us,” Margaret said. “(She taught us) the respect one person could have for another without considering race.”
“Color Blind” is the twins’ first attempt at a nation-wide song, and they said that the tune’s message applies to more than just the LOU community.
The song was recorded and produced by Nashville-based country singer Trae Edwards, who also filmed the video. Edwards said he saw the song’s potential and immediately fell in love with it.
“We’re looking at the song as a conversation starter,” Edwards said. “It’s something to get the ball rolling on — figuring out why we’re having so much trouble with racism, even today.”
Edwards said the video shoot was a success.
“It’s hard to get people to come together to support anything these days, so having these people come out and support this cause is a big deal,” Edwards said. “It tells its own story. Everyone who was here obviously agreed with the topic, which made today even better.”
Senior public policy major Jarrius Adams came out to the Square to be a part of the video.
“The video was much needed,” Adams said. “It gave us all an opportunity to interact with people who don’t look like us. Being able to lean on community leaders who have different experiences but share this common belief of unity was amazing.”
The King twins and Edwards plan to release “Color Blind” and its music video in a few weeks on most music streaming platforms. Hinting at the song’s potential in their eyes, the twins said they hope it becomes the theme song for either a movie or TV series based on “Our Josephine.”
