Episode Summary

In this episode of The Own Your Brand Show, Victoria Odekomaya sits down with Eunice Trotter for a deeply meaningful conversation about journalism, Black heritage, preservation, storytelling, and legacy. Eunice brings a rare combination of lived experience, historical knowledge, journalistic discipline, and community commitment to the conversation.

Victoria introduces Eunice as a legendary figure in Indianapolis, noting her work in journalism and her role in helping preserve Black heritage. The conversation begins with Eunice’s current work at Indiana Landmarks, where she serves as Director of the Black Heritage Preservation Program. Through that work, she helps document, protect, and preserve stories, buildings, sites, and communities connected to Black history in Indiana.

A major part of the episode focuses on the importance of preserving history before it disappears. Eunice explains that so much Black history has been erased or forgotten, and that preservation begins by first knowing that the history exists. She talks about oral history harvests, research, and the discovery of 90 Black settlements in Indiana before the Civil War. These settlements were places where African Americans lived together, built community, and survived.

The conversation also explores Eunice’s personal family history. She shares how her lineage can be traced back to the late 1700s in southern Indiana and discusses her ancestor Mary Bateman Clark, who filed a lawsuit in 1821 to free herself from indentured servitude. Eunice explains how that story became the foundation for her book, Black in Indiana, a historical fiction work based on legal documentation, court filings, and the desire to give voice to people who were often written about but rarely allowed to speak for themselves.

Eunice also shares discoveries connected to Black history in Indianapolis, including burial grounds, settlements, churches, schools, and community spaces that many people do not know existed. She explains how evidence such as cemeteries, old churches, and old schoolhouses can become the starting point for research that uncovers who lived in those places, what they faced, and what they accomplished.

The episode also connects journalism to preservation. Eunice explains that journalism is often the first draft of history. Newspapers once documented births, deaths, marriages, graduations, social events, community milestones, and everyday life. As those records disappear or move into harder-to-access digital spaces, future generations may lose valuable research tools unless communities become more intentional about preserving their own stories.

Eunice also talks about the need for a Black heritage hub, archive, and cultural space where stories, records, art, community events, and research can be preserved and shared. She introduces the work of the Cultural Collective and the vision for a space that can support heritage, culture, events, studio work, co-working, and community access at affordable rates.

Toward the end of the conversation, Eunice shares her “three Cs and the big T” framework: credit, control, capacity, and trust. She explains how these issues can slow progress when communities are trying to build together. Her message is clear: trust must be earned, integrity matters, and people must do what they say they are going to do.

At its heart, this episode is about legacy. It is a reminder that stories, places, families, communities, and records matter. When they are not preserved, people lose connection to where they came from. But when they are documented and protected, they become a foundation for identity, confidence, education, and future impact.

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Key Takeaway

The main takeaway from this episode is that history does not preserve itself. Someone has to ask the questions, collect the stories, protect the records, restore the buildings, and make sure future generations know what happened before them.

Eunice Trotter’s work is a reminder that storytelling is not just about the past. It is about identity, confidence, truth, and legacy. When communities know where they come from, they are better prepared to move forward with strength and purpose.