Through2Eyes: How former Indiana State receiver Sampson Levingston is preserving Indianapolis Black history

Sampson Levingston has begun to pick his clothes intentionally.  

In Indianapolis, many know Levingston as a staple of the community. The 29-year-old narrates youth concerts for children, works as a fitness trainer at a local gym and hosts Walk & Talks tours centered around Black history in the city.  

With his visibility, he knows his outfit matters. That's why he chooses to rep his alma mater, Indiana State. 

"I feel like the Sycamores don't rep their school hard enough," he said. "I tell people I am a Sycamore. I just want to let people know Indiana State is a really, really great school, and I love it there and you'd love it, too."

Occasionally, there are people who don't recognize the Indiana State logo. When they ask Levingston what the Sycamore stands for, he has an answer.

"It is Indiana State University, home of Larry Bird and Sampson Levingston."

Although Levingston didn't realize it back then, the block where the Indianapolis native grew up was an NCAA Division I breeding ground. He and his younger sister, Ashley, spent their days outside with their neighbors, playing basketball, football and soccer, racing up and down the street to see who was the fastest. Many of the kids on the street became college athletes at Purdue, Florida Gulf Coast and other Division I schools. Over at the Levingston residence, Sampson committed to Indiana State for football, while Ashley committed to UT Martin for soccer. 

In 2013, Levingston arrived in Terre Haute, Indiana, to begin his freshman year. The team had a new coaching staff, so Levingston set the goal to earn playing time in his first year. 

He told himself, "The quicker I can kind of figure this out, make this my home, understand how everything here works, the quicker I get on the field." 

Levingston learned the playbook not only in his position, but in all of the other positions on the field, as well. He showed up to every class. He dedicated time to additional workouts outside of practice time. 

It worked. As a freshman, the wide receiver had 15 receptions for 167 yards and led the team with six touchdown receptions on the year. In his sophomore year, his team made the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision playoffs for the first time since 1984. Although Indiana State lost in the second round, Levingston cherished the experience. He even gave the medal to his father.  

"It's still on his desk," Levingston said

Throughout his playing career, the Indiana State coaches always told the players to "be where your feet are." This meant being present during 6 a.m. conditioning workouts, class lectures and long practices.

Levingston took the phrase a step further. He chose to embrace living in Terre Haute.

The city has around 60,000 residents, with about 80% of the population being white. In comparison, Indianapolis has nearly 890,000 people. Some might assume it would be easy for a Black male in a predominately white, rural town to be dissatisfied with the location of the university. Levingston put a stop to this narrative.

"One thing I was really big on was no Terre Haute slander," he said.

Levingston chose to embrace and love the local community that surrounded the campus. He spent time walking around the city, meeting locals, and finding his favorite restaurants and shops.

"I love the little places I went to, the community I made in Terre Haute. I go back, and they still know me. I love Terre Haute," he said.

"I think any university, any city, any situation is what you make of it," he added. "I was looking for Indiana State to be a great place for me. I was trying to make the most of it. Football definitely helped me see the value in it before really anything else."

Levingston's former football teammate and roommate, Marcus Gray, said Levingston encouraged him to think about the history of Terre Haute.

"The one thing I can take away from him is he was the first person to actually get me to start reading the history plaques and markers. It started right there in Terre Haute," Gray said.

"He was the first person I saw that actually walked everywhere in Terre Haute. He had no issues with just walking, observing and taking in the city," he added. "I just wanna say he probably loves Terre Haute more than most of the residents there."

After graduating from Indiana State, Levingston moved back to Indianapolis. As is the case for many former student-athletes, he began to form his identity beyond the lines of the football field.

"I thought I had this unique way of seeing the world," he said. "I wish everyone just thought like a football locker room, talking about the things that matter for real."

He started a blog called Through2Eyes. Eventually, Levingston said he wrote one blog about Indiana history. His passions clicked together. He asked himself, "If this is my favorite thing to talk about, why am I writing any other article?"

History had always piqued Levingston's interest. He took history classes in high school and sought them out at Indiana State. He always stopped to read the plaques and signs sprinkled throughout cities, something he noticed few people did.

"History just allows you to know where you are," he said. "I just realized the more I know about the city, the more I know about myself. The more I know where we've been, it becomes easier to know where I want to go."

He began penning stories he learned about the city, nuggets from events he went to and research he found interesting.

"There's even a perception in Indianapolis we don't have Black history because they're not talking about it," he said. "It was kind of always a fun discovery process for me to independently figure out where different Black people, women, Native Americans had been throughout history in Indiana and kind of infuse us into the traditional history people might already know."

Then, in 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter Movement, Sampson left the confines of his home and went down to Indianapolis' Monument Circle to see what the protests and rallies were about.

"That energy was so amazing that I was like, I need to say something," he recalled. "I need to be up there, contextualizing this moment we're in, letting us know our city has everything to do with what's happening all over the country right now."

Levingston sprang into action based on what he knew best. He decided to host a walking history tour of Indianapolis. In his inaugural tour, he walked with 19 people around a neighborhood, a formerly predominantly Black district.

"With everything going with COVID-19 and the height of the Black Lives Matter movement, there was so much uncertainty and division," said friend Hanna Leach, who joined the first tour. "It felt like people in my own city didn't fully understand what was happening, and we were all searching for answers. Sampson gave us just that through his Walk & Talk.

"What stood out most was how he didn't just teach history or recite facts. He sparked real conversations. His ability to connect the past to the present, and his passion for making sure these histories aren't forgotten, was evident in every word he said," Leach added. "By the end of that first Walk & Talk, I walked away with a deeper understanding of our city's story and how we got to where we are today. And most importantly, how to move forward from here."

Levingston said he couldn't put into words the impact of the first walking tour. But he did know something for certain. He wanted to do this forever.

He took a photo from the first tour, framing it to place on his home bookshelf. On the back of the photo, he wrote a note to himself.

"You're going to look back at this moment and think about how much this matters. You can do whatever you want to do if you just do it," Levingston recalled. Tears filled his eyes as he admitted he reads the message from time to time.

"I value what I do so much, and I'm proud of what I've done and the people who support me," he said. "I really love Indianapolis. I believe in Indianapolis. I believe in Indiana. I just think it's the best place in the world."

As Levingston hosted more Walk & Talk tours, he realized the importance of people understanding the history of the place they live.

"The most beneficial tour you could ever take is of the city in which you live," he said. "All those tours at first were just nothing but people from Indianapolis. That was really special because they're learning about their city and also telling me different stories."

In the past four years, Levingston's Through2Eyes blog has transformed into a staple Indianapolis experience for locals and visitors. Levingston has hosted over 1,000 Walk & Talk tours through 12 Indianapolis neighborhoods. The 2-mile walks last about two hours.

People from Indianapolis are joined with others from across the country. While some tours include up to 75 people, Levingston prefers to keep the numbers around 15 people so he can engage with everyone on the tour.

"Over the past four to five years, I've seen Sampson create a significant impact on the Indianapolis community through his Walk & Talk tours. Through his impact with kids in schools, Indianapolis businesses and his Walk & Talks for the general public, he is sharing a wealth of information and passion," said Dana Matis, owner of Day Won Fitness, the gym where Levingston works as an instructor.

"Sampson is uniquely himself. He has an electric personality. People love to be around him, and he loves to be around people. He is an includer. He has a way of building relationships with the people he encounters," Matis added.

Through Levingston's Walk & Talks, he clearly draws a thread between Black history and Black excellence.

"It'd be ridiculous to not acknowledge the obstacles that have been put upon Black people here in the United States. There's always been these barriers that are trying to prevent us from being excellent," he said. "Despite that, there's so much that is documented that is beyond excellence without having the most opportunities or access."

Levingston said history gives him hope for the future.

"It's been something that's been very necessary for Black people here in the United States to be excellent," he said. "We have been, and we are. We will continue to be. It starts with a little Black life being valued so it can be excellent."

If Levingston could speak to himself as a child, he would tell him to be excited about the future.

"I wonder what little me would have been doing if he knew you existed … if you knew there's somebody like me who's on the stage, somebody like me talking about history," he said.

"I never saw a tour guide here in Indianapolis. I never saw one that was young like me. I never saw one that was bouncing around the walls. Energetic jokes. I never saw that. Now these kids in Indianapolis, thousands and thousands of them, get to see that and know they can be that."

For many, seeing history means believing it can happen. For Levingston, uncovering little-recognized Indiana history means people can see a lineage of excellence. This way, they can believe it, too.

"You can only be what you see."