diff --git a/CHANGELOG.rst b/CHANGELOG.rst
index ccc076a..e622973 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.rst
+++ b/CHANGELOG.rst
@@ -13,6 +13,11 @@ Change Log
 
 Unreleased
 
+[1.53.0] - 2024-08-22
+---------------------
+* perf: Introduced db_index on the `created` and `is_blacklisted` fields in `XBlockSkillData` model 
+  for performance improvements of `xblocks` endpoint
+
 [1.52.0] - 2024-08-22
 ---------------------
 * feat: Added a search feature on skill field in CourseSkills
diff --git a/taxonomy/__init__.py b/taxonomy/__init__.py
index d616d56..d450b26 100644
--- a/taxonomy/__init__.py
+++ b/taxonomy/__init__.py
@@ -15,6 +15,6 @@
 # 2. MINOR version when you add functionality in a backwards compatible manner, and
 # 3. PATCH version when you make backwards compatible bug fixes.
 # More details can be found at https://semver.org/
-__version__ = '1.52.0'
+__version__ = '1.53.0'
 
 default_app_config = 'taxonomy.apps.TaxonomyConfig'  # pylint: disable=invalid-name
diff --git a/taxonomy/api/v1/views.py b/taxonomy/api/v1/views.py
index 776330f..fd1db4c 100644
--- a/taxonomy/api/v1/views.py
+++ b/taxonomy/api/v1/views.py
@@ -297,7 +297,6 @@ class XBlockSkillsViewSet(TaxonomyAPIViewSetMixin, RetrieveModelMixin, ListModel
     If skill validation is disabled for a course, then return an empty queryset.
     """
     serializer_class = XBlocksSkillsSerializer
-    permission_classes = (permissions.IsAuthenticated, )
     filter_backends = (DjangoFilterBackend,)
     filterset_class = XBlocksFilter
 
diff --git a/taxonomy/migrations/0037_alter_xblockskilldata_is_blacklisted_and_more.py b/taxonomy/migrations/0037_alter_xblockskilldata_is_blacklisted_and_more.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b2a027c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/taxonomy/migrations/0037_alter_xblockskilldata_is_blacklisted_and_more.py
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+# Generated by Django 4.2.14 on 2024-08-22 09:43
+
+from django.db import migrations, models
+
+
+class Migration(migrations.Migration):
+
+    dependencies = [
+        ('taxonomy', '0036_auto_20240325_1631'),
+    ]
+
+    operations = [
+        migrations.AlterField(
+            model_name='xblockskilldata',
+            name='is_blacklisted',
+            field=models.BooleanField(db_index=True, default=False, help_text='Blacklist this xblock skill, useful to handle false positives.'),
+        ),
+        migrations.AddIndex(
+            model_name='xblockskilldata',
+            index=models.Index(fields=['created'], name='taxonomy_xb_created_5929ec_idx'),
+        ),
+    ]
diff --git a/taxonomy/models.py b/taxonomy/models.py
index defd241..2d0da36 100644
--- a/taxonomy/models.py
+++ b/taxonomy/models.py
@@ -238,7 +238,7 @@ class XBlockSkillData(TimeStampedModel):
     )
     is_blacklisted = models.BooleanField(
         help_text=_('Blacklist this xblock skill, useful to handle false positives.'),
-        default=False,
+        default=False, db_index=True
     )
 
     class Meta:
@@ -251,6 +251,9 @@ class Meta:
         ordering = ('created', )
         app_label = 'taxonomy'
         unique_together = ('xblock', 'skill')
+        indexes = [
+            models.Index(fields=['created']),
+        ]
 
     def __str__(self):
         """