They say it’s history, but when I stand in it, it feels invisible.
If it were history, why isn’t it now? Why does Black history feel like a chapter they closed too soon, a headline they skimmed past, a victory they forgot to announce?
I am the first. The first Black Marion County Recorder. The first, not an asterisk, not a footnote, and not a maybe someday. Yet somehow, silence followed the milestone.
This is not written for pity, nor a request for applause. I didn’t write this to be seen; I wrote this to make it clear.
As a community, we must not only recognize the past but also elevate those Black and Brown Hoosiers breaking barriers today. There are Black Americans doing great things every day. We must lift them up as symbols of what we can do and point out what has yet to be done. Our little girls and boys must know that they can break barriers today.
Greatness isn’t relegated to the past. It isn’t just history. We make contributions that improve the world right now.
Regardless of who notices, I will always be known as the first. The first to educate, the first to open doors, and the first to explain an office that too many never really understood.
Since taking office, I have educated more than 380,000 residents. Three hundred and eighty thousand reached by mail, some in person, voices heard, questions answered and barriers lowered.
The Marion County Recorder’s Office is not invisible — it records your life’s most important transactions. Your liens, your deeds, your mortgages and more!
We maintain the truth of ownership and make it accessible to the public — because transparency matters. Because you matter.
So, as Black History Month is recognized, please remember this — history is now serving you as the first Black Marion County Recorder, protecting your records, preserving your legacy and doing the work every day. I am not alone. Black contributions didn’t stop in the past. They happen regularly, and we are still changing and improving the world. Let’s take the time to recognize that and let America know we won’t stop. We won’t be a footnote.
Faith Kimbrough is the elected Marion County Recorder. The Marion County Recorder holds public records of property transactions including deeds, liens, mortgages, easements, certified survey maps and other documents.
