As dozens of people and music filled Indiana Avenue, Sampson Levingston gestured to the scene around him as evidence of a return to the area’s history as a hub of Black life and music.

“This is what Indiana Avenue is supposed to be. Black people having a good time on a Saturday in the summer,” Levingston said. “That’s our history. That’s our story.”

The fifth annual Legacy Fest, organized by the Madam Walker Legacy Center, honored that story on June 19 and 20. A block party with food trucks, vendors selling one-of-a-kind jeweled hats and patchwork denim, jewelry, and live musical performances capped off the Juneteenth weekend. The day before, Grammy-winning producer Teddy Riley performed in the Walker Theatre.

The block circles the Walker Building, a triangular African Art Deco theater topped with a red sign easily spotted in Indianapolis’ skyline. The 1927 building is the last building still operating in its original state on a street once filled with Black-owned businesses but now dominated by fences and parking lots.

After being forced by a former downtown Indianapolis theater to pay a “Black tax,” Walker promised to build a theater without discrimination. The building was home to Walker Manufacturing Company and a 1500-seat theater, the only theater without race-based discrimination in the city at the time. The theater still regularly puts on shows and holds the Madam Walker Legacy Center non-profit responsible for and supported by the Legacy Fest.

“There’s a lot of BS going on in the world and the country. You can get sad about it and pout,” Levingston said. “Madam Walker addressed the issue.”

Levingston runs Walk & Talk, historic walking tours allowing participants to literally step into Indianapolis’ Black history. On June 20 he led a group away from the music and crowd of Legacy fest and around the block, stopping at historic centers of the community such as Lockefield Gardens and the former Second Christian Church. On the tour, Levingston spoke about the impact of redlining and zoning restrictions on reducing the neighborhood’s density and businesses. In the Green Book, a travel guide listing businesses safe for Black Americans, most Indianapolis stores listed are on Indiana Avenue. Now the block is mostly residential. A closed convivence store is vacant and the Second Christian Church is a single-family home.

“Imagine if they won’t let people borrow for decades and decades how much wealth that drips out of a community,” Levingston said. “That’s why when you walk around you just see parking lots.”

Julia A. Royston, a Legacy Fest block party vendor, has been publishing books for 18 years. Many of the books she publishes are centered on increasing representation and putting out voices other than traditional publishing houses.

“No matter what season of the world we’re in, there’s still an opportunity for us to tell our story our way,” Royston said.

Lucy Tobier is the politics reporting intern for the Indianapolis Star. She can be reached at lucy.tobier@indystar.com or on X at @TobierLucy

The USATF U20 Championships took place on June 18-19, while Nike Outdoor Nationals ran June 18-22 in Eugene, Oregon.

Some of the top high school track and field athletes, including recent graduates, fared excellent when the lights were the brightest.

Here are the top results from Eugene last week.

More: Indiana high school girls state track and field meet results, winners, record breakers

Ellie Barada

Barada, a Bloomington South graduate, qualified for U20 Worlds with a second-place finish (2:02.72) in the women’s 800 meter run. She won gold in the mile (4:34.25) at Nike Outdoor Nationals. The North Carolina recruit also ran anchor leg for the winning 4000-meter state distance medley relay team, which combined for a time of 11:36.99.

Noah Bontrager

Bontrager, a Westview graduate and Notre Dame recruit, won the U20 men’s 3000-meter run (8:32.53).

Collin Bumgardner

Bumgardner, an Indiana State recruit and Danville state champion, placed 12th in the boys 200 finals (21.49) and 16th (10.71) in the 100 finals at Nike Outdoor Nationals.

More: Danville senior Collin Bumgardner springs upset, wins double state title in sprints

Ellie Cooley

Cooley represented Carmel with a sixth-place finish (129-08) in the girls discus Emerging Elite event at Nike Outdoor Nationals.

Rylan Hainje

Hainje placed first in the prelims of the 110 hurdles (13.44) before he placed third (13.36) in the finals of Nike Outdoor. The Franklin Central grad and Marian recruit suffered a false start in the 110 hurdles of the U20 prelims.

Konrad Hayden

Hayden placed 11th in the boys high jump at Nike Outdoor Nationals. The Fishers graduate recorded a leap of 6 feet, 8.75 inches.

Kallen Hoeft

Hoeft was a member of the mixed 4×400 relay team that finished as runner-up at Nike Outdoor Nationals. The Hamilton Southeastern quartet of Hoeft, Anissa Lammie, Jaxson Wanza and Chloe Senefeld ran a time of 3:30.01.

Lexi Kollbaum

Kollbaum was a member of the winning state distance medley relay team. The Bloomington South junior placed 36th in the 800 and 40th in the mile at Nike Outdoor.

Anissa Lammie

Lammie placed sixth (54.54) in the 400-meter dash at Nike Outdoor Nationals. She was also a part of the mixed 4×400 team that placed second with a time of 3:30.01. The Hamilton Southeastern junior ran the 800 leg for the winning state distance medley relay team.

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Kaitlyn Oshimura

Oshimura, a Carmel graduate, placed fourth in the 1 Mile Emerging Elite race with a time of 4:55.64. She also placed 39th in the 800-meter run at Nike Outdoor Nationals.

Jordan Randall

Randall, a two-time high school state champion for Warsaw, placed fourth in the high jump at both U20 (7-01.75) in the men’s event and Nike Outdoor Nationals (7-00.50) in the boys event.

Chloe Senefeld

Senefeld ran the 400 leg for the winning state distance medley relay team in the state category at Nike Outdoor Nationals. The Indiana quartet of Senefeld, Barada, Kollbaum and Lammie took home gold with a time of 11:36.99. She was also a member of the second-place mixed 4×400 team. The Iowa recruit was a national runner-up (59.27) in the 400-meter hurdles. She placed sixth (58.54) in same event at U20.

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Kira Smith

Smith was a runner-up in the girls high jump at Nike Outdoor Nationals. She recorded a jump of 5-feet, 10.75 inches.

Jaxson Wanza

Wanza helped Southeastern earn a runner-up finish in the mixed 4×400 relay at Nike Outdoor Nationals.

Marc Ray is a high school sports reporter at the IndyStar. He can be reached at marc.ray@indystar.com , and on X, formerly Twitter, at @themarcszn.

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