By day eight of the saga, Lumumba was weighed down by the club's betrayals and the media's relentless character assassinations. Following an indiscreet press conference "I get the impression that everyone thinks he's a basket case," the coach said at one point he was hailed by the football press for "a Buckley masterclass". They have been taught since early childhood that black people are inferior, which is why they consistently reinforce damaging stereotypes of us.". [8] He retired from AFL football in December. Lumumba was also soon among the most electrifying defenders in the game, peeling off his man and sprinting forward moments of athletic flair that are the lasting image of his football brilliance. Good journalism challenges you to confront your biases and prejudices, and I hopefully logged off a little more enlightened, if not a bit embarrassed. "We grew up as black children who were outsiders in isolated capital cities; our fathers African; Barack was whitewashed to Barry, Hritier to Harry. They have had many chances to get on the right side of history. Six days later, in another team meeting, a crass joke was made by a member of the coaching staff about one of Lumumba's teammates looking like a lesbian. He was living on the other side of the world. 'Eddie McGuire's inability to let go of the illusion he's constructed of himself does not serve the club, the code, or the community. 12:52 BST 07 Feb 2021 McGuire has since admitted he 'got it wrong' in his response and said he had used the term 'pride' 'under the pressure of the day'. In October, 2014, when Lumumba made his final appearance as a Collingwood player at the club's Copeland Trophy presentation, much was made of a "bizarre" speech he gave about the true meaning of his name "the prince, the one who will hold the last laugh, and is gifted". When Lumumba said he wanted to publish a tweet, as per club policy, he was given approval by senior staff in lieu of calling McGuire directly. "Click bait. [2] He was selected with pick 21 in the 2004 AFL Rookie Draft by Collingwood, and made his debut in Round 18 of 2005 against Fremantle at the MCG. He told senior football staff he'd rather retire on 199 games than play for another club. 'Despite the nickname being overtly racist, unfortunately, it was not the worst facet of the interpersonal racism that I encountered during my 10 years at CFC.'. My mother was a tireless campaigner for what our community calls 'cultural resistance' the act of fighting oppression through culture. Consider Lumumba's status in Collingwood's pecking order. Its harder and more complicated when were dealing with a beloved former club captain. Hritier Lumumba net worth Mar, 2023 Hritier Lumumba (formerly known as Harry O'Brien; born 15 November 1986) is a Brazilian-born Australian former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Collingwood Football Club and Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). It's a long way removed from his school days in Perth, when few could be bothered learning his name. "Harry O'Brien no longer: Magpie to change surname to Lumumba", "Magpies Harry O'Brien defender a leader in the making", "Clark a Cat, three-way deal sees Varcoe join Magpies", "Heritier Lumumba ready to return for Melbourne in 2017 after concussion ruined 2016", "Lumumba still not training as concussion lingers", "Heritier Lumumba retires from AFL following medical advice over concussion issues", "Lumumba slams Pies as 'racist, sexist boys' club', "Heritier Lumumba Collingwood, documentary, Eddie McGuire, Nathan Buckley", "Hritier Lumumba On White Fragility, White Supremacy, And Waleed Aly", "Waleed Aly 'indifferent' to racism: Heritier Lumumba", "Hritier Lumumba rejects Collingwood's offer to meet over club racism allegations", "Collingwood Crisis Deepens: Two More Players Confirm 'Chimp' Nickname For Hritier Lumumba", "AFL 2020: Lumumba, Heritier Lumumba racism claims Collingwood, Nathan Buckley, Paul Roos, Melbourne, Harry O'Brien, AFL racism", "Collingwood Football Club is guilty of systemic racism, review finds", "Calls row For The Project Hosts To Apologise To Heritier Lumumba On-Air For 'Disgraceful' Coverage", "Media personality apologises after interview with Heritier Lumumba resurfaces", "Former Channel 10 Exec Urges The Project To Explain Missing Hritier Lumumba Clips", "Harry reclaims his birth name: Heritier Lumumba", "Heritier Lumumba: How he shed the game and the name that once defined him", "O'hAilpin, Carlile sign up as multicultural ambassadors", "Gillard names Collingwood star local champion", "Humble Harry recognised for multiculturalism work", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hritier_Lumumba&oldid=1147495829, Collingwood Football Club Premiership players, Australian rules footballers from Western Australia, Australian people of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent, Brazilian people of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent, People educated at Rossmoyne Senior High School, Short description is different from Wikidata, All Wikipedia articles written in Australian English, Articles with unsourced statements from March 2016, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 31 March 2023, at 10:08. 'It was not systemic racism, as such, we just didn't have the processes to deal with it that we do now. "But the way I see it, the isolation I felt and the prejudice that pervades white Australia is far more detrimental to my wellbeing. [citation needed]. Grant pressed a copy of Eduardo Galeano's Open Veins of Latin America into Lumumba's hands and later wrote in The Age: "The highly paid image-makers project the AFL as a broad, enlightened church, free of the bigotry of the past. Video, The secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure, MasterChef Australia host Jock Zonfrillo dies, UK chip giant Arm files for blockbuster share sale, Adidas sued by investors over Kanye West deal, Pope urges Hungarians to 'open doors' to migrants, US bank makes last ditch bid to find rescuer. "He means so much to black people because he fought and sacrificed for us. Some are drawn there by the unmistakable sound of traditional drums. As their final selection in the rookie draft of 2004, he was Collingwood's most expendable player. As far as Collingwood, Lumumba and Buckley go, this entire issue seems unresolvable. Nathan Buckley's full response to Heritier Lumumba | SEN Breakfast SEN Sports 20.7K subscribers Subscribe 169 Share 18K views 10 months ago Nathan Buckley responds to Heritier Lumumba's. "Most people who reported on my life were ill-equipped. "The club is defensive and angry," Caroline Wilson wrote. Lumumba still had two years to run on his Collingwood contract as the 2014 season dawned. Lumumba blew the whistle on Collingwood for 'systemic' racism, sparking an investigation and subsequent allegations of racial discrimination within the club. News that US President Barack Obama would soon visit Australia prompted Lumumba to fire off an email to Nick Hatzoglou, then head of the AFL's multicultural programs. In recent years, several players have spoken about racism in Australia's richest and best-attended professional league. In 2020, the Do Better report proved that CFC had still failed to meet the minimum legal requirements for human rights protection in a workplace." Lumumba's surname was changed to "O'Brien" when he was 9 years old and was given the nickname "Harry" shortly after, becoming known as "Harry O'Brien". One thing is certain: nobody lived the Collingwood ideal more earnestly than Hritier Lumumba, taking to heart the club's origin story as a beacon of hope to the impoverished underclasses of Collingwood the gritty inner-northern suburb in which Lumumba alone among Pies players chose to make his home. The Sunday Age article announcing his arrival began: "Harry O'Brien could have been playing soccer for Brazil. "I'm just another Australian kid who wants to play AFL," he told The Herald Sun in 2006. And the media has gone on being receptive. By [6], Lumumba missed the round one match against Greater Western Sydney in 2016, before playing the next five matches; he missed the remainder of the season after suffering from concussion symptoms. "You can't turn back from this moment. ', By 0:00 / 8:55 ABC is an Australian public broadcast service. There was a time when he told himself it wasn't his job to educate people. "It was a refuge for me while I was playing football in those early years," Lumumba says. Pictures: Getty Images. "That is when I really began to notice the tone shifting a lot," Lumumba says. I've spoken to some people and I've found different things, the nuances that I had no idea [about]. Then he adopted words of advice from a mentor, the African-American academic Professor Lucius Outlaw Jr: "The lessons of histories of encounters between white folks and folks African and of African descent have taught us that it is not in our best interests to leave the education of white children and young people solely up to white people. My name is a symbol of black power and revolution, and ties me to the spirit of great men such as Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali and Patrice Lumumba, the father of Congolese independence, who was martyred in the name of Pan-Africanism.". Lumumba had been among his harshest critics; on live television, he had schooled McGuire in the basics of racism. One headline read: Too Precious. Lumumba says it was eventually used by the club to silence him. @iamlumumba . "This is what the Australian media does to people of African descent," Lumumba says. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. Hritier Lumumba has condemned Collingwood Football Club and its president, Eddie McGuire, for the response to a report that found the AFL club had a problem with 'systemic racism'. In many ways and its an indictment on the rest of the country football has led the way on this issue. Every year, the team's AFL-mandated "respect and responsibility" training sessions would roll around and Lumumba was reminded why some colleagues were so comfortable in their prejudices: the one-hour briefings included a desultory 15-minute discussion of racism. Lumumba says the second was the punishment he received once he challenged the club's apparent toxicity. At his own expense, he hired a full-time assistant, a massage therapist, a chef to create a specially formulated diet and, later, a personal coach who specialised in conflict resolution. Reclaiming it punctuated the year in which everything changed. At Collingwood, he focused on survival. From that position, Lumumba could easily tune out and switch off. Former Magpies player Simon Buckley said Brazilian-born Heritier Lumumba never complained about his nickname 'Chimp' when he was 'winning flags and getting a kick himself'. He is portrayed as an outcast.". There's enough stress you have to deal with playing a game that requires so much of you physically. "I always had the mentality that I could upset the club in some way and lose my spot," Lumumba says. ", Adam Goodes: Rival fans racism made me quit AFL. In time, he says he would also be called "black c***" and "slave" in the name of humour. What was Lumumba's confrontation of the club's culture if not that? Also, my maternal ancestors are native to the Americas, just like many people in Los Angeles. But when Lumumba went there, you could sense the room raising a collective eyebrow. He developed anxiety, struggling to sleep; a three-day Gaia retreat during Collingwood's mid-season bye didn't halt his spiral. Then a small drum is placed before him and his palms connect with its weathered surface, moving in time with those of the elders. I felt a level of isolation in those early days, but it seemed even more isolating and tiresome to constantly speak up.". During a Collingwood press conference on Monday, Collingwood president Eddie McGuire, 56, denied there was any 'systemic racism' at the team, and said that on his watch they 'built a fantastic club'. For years. His thread of tweets on Tuesday follows allegations . "There were tens of millions of people around the world who were mourning the death of Muhammad Ali," Lumumba says. When Lumumba complained, he says the club did nothing. The first and most obvious was the catalogue of personal abuses he says he'd weathered at Collingwood racist nicknames, discrimination and jokes that he says proliferated within the club's environment. Lumumba had secured the fifth in what would end up eight consecutive top-10 finishes in the club best and fairest award, but he was still labelled "the poster boy for Collingwood's decline". "They painted me with the centuries-old stereotype of the crazy black man, when in fact it is them who suffer from the psychosis of white supremacy. Pies football strategist Rodney Eade declared: "The club is bigger than any individual. [He] will train with the Pies at 10:00am but has been told in no uncertain terms to keep his emotional outbursts in check.". Later, he would hear the same words from the mouths of club staff. "When you have Africa inside of you, and you carry and own its power, it's common for people to become intimidated or uncomfortable. To Collingwood, he would never return. Today, he uses a one-word description of himself: African. In his football, support and mentorship came from the likes of Paul Licuria, James Clement, Marty Girvan, Scott Watters and David Buttifant. It's considered the most important physical evidence of enslaved Africans' arrival on the American continent.". Yet Lumumba's experiences have been corroborated by six of his teammates. Explore in 3D: The dazzling crown that makes a king. I believe my core values and beliefs about who I am and the cultural significance of my background help sustain me in my darkest moments.". ", Yet McLachlan also cast doubt on Lumumba's mental health: "With respect to Collingwood I know Tanya [Hosch, AFL's general manager of inclusion and social policy] has met with Hritier this issue is really about where he's at, and his state of mind and his welfare. A lot of the criticism came with a sneering tone. Indeed, for years, every time Lumumba would air his grievances, my flinch reaction was always the same: Heritier, you need to let this go. In December 2013, he changed his surname back to "Lumumba" and discontinued the use of the nickname "Harry", citing his journey of decolonisation as the reason for the change. Soon after McGuire's comments on Goodes landed with a calamitous thud, Lumumba tweeted: "It doesn't matter if you are a school teacher, a doctor or even the president of football club I will not tolerate racism, nor should we as a society. Lumumba says there was a sting in the tail: he was removed from the leadership group. "His name is Yala," Lumumba says. "They bit their tongue and that's what they have to live with for the rest of their life," McNamara told Seven News in June. 'If he wanted to preach about racism, he shoulda called it out at the time and not run with it and calling himself that for a laugh.'. In June, Mr McGuire said the investigation would be done "forensically but we're not looking to prosecute". It produced the kind of form that would eventually secure him another top-five finish in the club's best and fairest award. To be unable to express oneself naturally is excruciatingly painful. That changed in late 2020, when the ABC published an in-depth interview, the results of months of research. "My father was a new arrival in Brazil, seeking asylum from a brutal civil war in Angola. Keep up with the latest ASX and business news, MasterChef judge Jock Zonfrillo dies at age of 46. Yet word got out, as word has a way of doing at Collingwood, that Lumumba's future was clouded. Doing so would not be in the best interests of white folks, either.". Lumumba says one TV reporter engaged him in a long and meandering conversation, then presented an edited interview that made it sound like Lumumba had not returned from a concussion an injury that would end his career because he was still mourning the death of Muhammad Ali. That was the 2014 confrontation that was identified as the final broken pillar in Lumumba's 199-game, 10-year career with the Magpies, a career built on strong foundations and during which he became a premiership player, an all-Australian and a long-serving member of the club's leadership group. Side by side we stand. It was the moment Lumumba stopped playing peacemaker and called out Collingwood's culture of discrimination by confronting Magpies president Eddie McGuire, the man whose name still symbolises the Collingwood that Lumumba once loved. Then he came to love the melting pot of cultures and creeds and the daily parade of humanity in all its forms. "Given the club's inability to come clean, and the way it has attempted to publicly and privately attack my reputation, I cannot accept this 'integrity' process has been proposed in good faith.". Mr Lumumba said he had been ostracised by coaches and teammates after criticising club president Eddie McGuire for making racist remarks about Mr Goodes. Is climate change killing Australian wine? Living with it too is the AFL. So, Lumumba continues to agitate for change in the AFL, fearing the potential for history to repeat as young African Australians enter new spaces to pursue their dreams. 'Over the course of an hour, we answered every question but in my opening I got it wrong. His career spanned over 12 years where he played 223 games and was a member of the Collingwood Football Club's 2010 premiership winning team. 'It was disturbing to see how easily Eddie and the CFC board members reduced the severity of this ''profound and enduring harm'' to mere ''mishaps'' - as if they were talking about spilling tea on a couch rather than being found guilty of years of systemic racism.'. "The only mouth I have heard that nickname out of was Hritier's himself when he told me about it," said Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley, once Lumumba's football mentor. It wasn't always that way. But couldn't Eade and Shaw also have concluded the opposite? To @iamlumumba I am truly, unequivocally sorry. But 16 years later, those opening lines stick in his mind as a taster of what was to come. Imbued with greater purpose and committed to finally drawing a line in the sand, he returned to Collingwood and began his most intense and transformative pre-season training regime yet. Will it change Collingwood and the AFL? Ignored were the far more pointed comments preceding: "We find ourselves in a very interesting time, not only for this football club, but for this whole world. "I want to meet Obama too," said a reader letter in the Herald Sun. Heritier Lumumba and ex-Collingwood teammate get into heated online dispute | Daily Mail Online AFL star who blew the whistle on Collingwood 'racism' gets into heated online dispute with Magpies. He added: "We want to find what's gone on. He was an "infectious character", a "role model", "a leader", and that highest of compliments in the Melbourne footy world: a "great bloke". His response to the hyper-masculinity and white monoculture informing Collingwood's playing group was to disappear in the off-season and travel through the Americas, the Caribbean and the African continent, connecting with their people and cultures, forever wanting more. In reality, he says it was his only option to shield himself against significant personal attacks. In 2006 he showed more improvement and was elevated to the senior list again during the year, this time due to the absence of Sean Rusling, playing a total of nine games. Five police helicopters circled above their heads. 'Just dealing with the stresses of being an AFL footballer is enough. "Whatever you guys have been reporting, that's secondary. As a player, he made strides as the type of team-first, lockdown defender his first coach Mick Malthouse cherished. Now Lumumba was "erratic", "disgruntled", "troubled", "bizarre", "outspoken", "fragile", "rogue", a "sook" and a "destabilising influence" with "serious issues". Collingwood did all it could. He was elevated to the senior list for season 2007. Hard-working and athletically gifted, Lumumba shadowed his teammate and early football mentor Nathan Buckley, developing habits that would eventually make him the hardest trainer at Collingwood. But it was also the season that his problems with the media intensified. On one hand, it begged the question as to what faults Behrendt was expected to find. Most populous nation: Should India rejoice or panic? 11.4k Followers, 0 Following, 21 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Hritier LUMUMBA (@hlumumba) "It directly connects me to a 500-year worldwide resistance to white power and oppression. He'd become a "moral crusader", a "non-conformist", "a hindrance", "a handful", a "strange cat", "offended for others" because he "lacks a filter", forever taking "the high moral ground". When Lumumba arrived on the AFL scene at the end of 2004, much was made of his Brazilian nationality but little of his African ethnicity. Here's what they think of a Voice to Parliament, Soccer spectator accused of punching out teeth of referee in 'outrageous attack' refused bail, How Australia was left with only one deployable submarine, In December 2013, Lumumba didn't change his name, he corrected it, McGuire made his immortally offensive joke, likening Goodes to King Kong, a 'review' commissioned by Collingwood itself, Lumumba, among others, would not consent to an interview, Lumumba's reaction to the review's announcement was unequivocal, concussion forced him into AFL retirement, McGuire's comments on Goodes landed with a calamitous thud, Support, instead, flocked to the president, 'I don't buy that one bit': Next AFL CEO denies claims of a boys' club after promotion from general counsel. "I was fortunate that there were people who really cared about my success, and invested so much time and energy into me," Lumumba says. "Our industry has been a leader in the country on racism," he said. 2023 BBC. "Central to this, we have all been subjected to centuries of anti-African indoctrination," Lumumba says. He later spoke out about his experience of racism at Collingwood, which he said included being given a nickname that is a racial slur for black people. It wasnt your typical football profile. [17] Former Melbourne coach Paul Roos also confirmed hearing Lumumba's account and was "shocked" when Lumumba told him of the culture at Collingwood and what he had endured. They're proud to pronounce it. Collingwood had positioned itself as a more progressive organisation. Former Australian Rules footballer Hritier Lumumba is suing his former club and league over racism he says he endured in his playing career. His issues with Collingwood and Nathan Buckley seem unresolvable but there are other voices emerging. He reclaimed his name. The contrast between Lumumba's life at Collingwood and the black culture and thought that surrounds him now could not be more stark. Collingwood great Tony Shaw demanded Lumumba be ruled out of contention for the following game due to his impertinence. I will do better. Lumumba's final act at Collingwood would be a stand on behalf of others. Another bought a black dog and named it after Lumumba. Heritier, I offer you the opportunity to put a full and uncut version of our conversations on public record so as to provide context to our conversations and the support that was provided to you above and beyond that which could be reasonably expected in the circumstances. But, really, it is like any other corporate environment in pursuit of a singular aim, and therefore unable to accommodate anyone who dares to step outside its rigid parameters. 'Within two months of me being at the club, I had already been exposed to a culture where racist ideas, in the form of jokes, stereotypes and direct abuse was prevalent,'Lumumba said. He said he would not return until Buckley apologised. "They could easily have said, 'Yeah, we messed up'," Lumumba says. The Roman Empire was certainly an equal opportunity oppressor. The scathing report was made public, finding the club's attempts to deal with allegations of racism were either 'ineffective' or 'exacerbated' the situation. Did none have the courage to put his name next to such defamatory criticisms? Watching from afar, Lumumba thought of Collingwood's common refrain after Fair Game's release, when key figures always claimed to be "reaching out" to him. He'd devoured Obama's memoir, Dreams From My Father, and been struck by his and Obama's common experiences. In the last week, Lumumba released audio of heated conversations he had with Buckley back in 2014. Now he marched upright, a bandana shielding his face from the pandemic sweeping the planet, a Congolese flag draped over his shoulders. "His performance caught the eye of the Jongo Bassan da Serrinha community, which my mother was a part of.". There, he says, he feels a greater sense of belonging. In telling his story, former Collingwood premiership player Hritier Lumumba hammered home how far Australian rules still has to go in talking about race and class. [20] Helliar has written an apology, "This report is heartbreaking. But that stuff is easy. Upon his return, it took an eight-hour meeting with the club to end the impasse, Lumumba again explaining fundamental concepts of racism and its impact on him, and the impact of homophobic slurs on the club's gay staff members. Recent documentaries on Aboriginal player Adam Goodes - a two-time AFL best-and-fairest winner who retired after persistent abuse - have prompted calls for the sport to improve. He called the culture at Collingwood a "boys' club for racist and sexist jokes"[10] and stated that his teammates nicknamed him "chimp", a term with a strong history of connotations as a racial slur against black people. This has been going on for nearly a decade now. It got to a point where it made me shudder to hear and read.".
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