Héritier Lumumba (formerly O'Brien; born 15 November 1986) is an Australian-Brazilian-Congolese former professional

Australian rules footballer Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

who played for the

Collingwood Football Club The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed the Magpies or colloquially the Pies, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. ...

and

Melbourne Football Club The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons or colloquially the Dees, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier comp ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

(AFL). Known for his ability to turn defense into offense and his effectiveness in various roles, Lumumba was a trailblazer in the

as its inaugural

Multicultural Multiculturalism is the coexistence of multiple cultures. The word is used in sociology, in political philosophy, and colloquially. In sociology and everyday usage, it is usually a synonym for ''ethnic'' or cultural pluralism in which various e ...

Ambassador and the first and only player of Brazilian and Congolese descent. Lumumba's professional football career commenced with the

in 2004. With Collingwood, he gained All-Australian honors, won an

AFL premiership This page is a complete chronological listing of VFL/AFL premiers. The Australian Football League (AFL), known as the Victorian Football League (VFL) until 1989, is the elite national competition in men's Australian rules football. The inaugur ...

, and was recognised for his leadership qualities, earning a place in Collingwood's leadership group. In 2014, Lumumba was traded to the

, where he made an immediate impact on the team and continued in a leadership role until his retirement in 2016, due to a concussion. In addition to his distinguished on field career, Lumumba played a significant role in promoting

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

and community engagement. Former

Australian Prime Minister The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister is the chair of the Cabinet of Australia and thus the head of the federal executive government. Under the principles of responsibl ...

Julia Gillard Julia Eileen Gillard (born 29 September 1961) is an Australian former politician who served as the 27th prime minister of Australia from 2010 to 2013. She held office as the leader of the Labor Party (ALP), having previously served as the ...

, nominated Lumumba as a multicultural ambassador of Australia, via the people of Australia program. His stance on racial and cultural issues has also invited public scrutiny and controversy. However, his dedication to fostering dialogue on the critical social issues remains a constant thread in his public persona. Post-retirement, Lumumba has transitioned into roles in High Performance, Strategic Partnerships, and in

Ethnobotanical Ethnobotany is an interdisciplinary field at the interface of natural and social sciences that studies the relationships between humans and plants. It focuses on traditional knowledge of how plants are used, managed, and perceived in human societi ...

research. In April 2023, he was appointed the High Performance and Strategic Partnerships director of the Congolese National Rugby Federation.

Playing career

Collingwood

The Lumumba played most of his football as a medium defender. 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 Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia located at the mouth of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australi ...

at the

MCG The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as the 'G, is a sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere, the el ...

. He kicked a goal against the

Kangaroos Kangaroos are marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use, the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern grey ...

shortly after his debut, and did enough to be retained on the rookie list. 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. Coach

Mick Malthouse Michael Raymond Malthouse (born 17 August 1953) is a former Australian rules footballer and coach, who played for the St Kilda Football Club and Richmond Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). After finishing his playing career, ...

at one point in an interview challenged the AFL's rules on rookies in response to not being able to permanently play Lumumba in the seniors on the basis of his excellent form. He was elevated to the senior list for season 2007. In 2008, he came 5th in the

Copeland Trophy The E.W. Copeland Trophy is an Australian rules football award given by the Collingwood Football Club to the player adjudged best and fairest for Collingwood during the year. The Copeland Shield, as it was formerly known, was donated by Ern Cop ...

count, Collingwood's

best and fairest In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspensi ...

. In 2009, he came 4th in the Copeland Trophy. He played in numbers 43, 30 and his final number 8. In 2010, he won All-Australian honours playing off the half-back flank. He was instrumental in Collingwood's 2010 grand final replay win over St Kilda and kicked a long goal from the boundary line late in the game.

Melbourne

On 15 October 2014, after issues with the club and management, Lumumba and Collingwood agreed to part ways and he joined the

in a three-club deal with Mitch Clark going to and

Travis Varcoe Travis Varcoe (born 10 April 1988) is a retired Australian rules footballer who played in the Australian Football League (AFL) for the Geelong Football Club from 2006 to 2014, and for the Collingwood Football Club from 2015 to 2020. He currentl ...

joining Collingwood. Lumumba made his Melbourne debut in round 1, 2015, against , in what was also his 200th AFL game. He kicked a goal in a 26-point win for his new club. Lumumba missed the round one match against in 2016, before playing the next five matches; he missed the remainder of the season after suffering from concussion symptoms. Despite being cleared to train by Melbourne doctors, he did not return to pre-season training in November after being advised to retire by several specialists. He retired from AFL football in December.

Racism allegations

In 2017, the documentary ''Fair Game'' was released about Heritier's life and his stories of racism while playing professional football. He called the culture at Collingwood a "boys' club for racist and sexist jokes" and stated that his teammates nicknamed him "chimp", a term with a strong history of connotations as a racial slur against black people. He stood up to the racism and continues to do so. On

Network 10 Network 10 (commonly known as the 10 Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global's UK & Australia division and is one of the five national free-to-a ...

's '' The Project'', Lumumba was interviewed by

Waleed Aly Waleed Aly (born 15 August 1978) is an Australian television presenter, journalist, academic, and lawyer. Aly is a lecturer in politics at Monash University working in their Global Terrorism Research Centre, and a co-host of Network Ten's ne ...

about his experiences and was disappointed in Aly's response to the interview, as Lumumba felt that he approached the interview with the "preconceived idea that we would both see eye to eye on the basic truths of racism/

white supremacy White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White supremacy has roots in the now-discredited doctrine ...

... However, it is now very clear to me, that he and I have fundamental differences in our understanding of what racism/white supremacy is, and how it should be effectively dealt with." Lumumba felt that he was undermined by Aly and claimed that Aly was indifferent to racism. In 2020, the feud was again reported in the media when Lumumba called ''The Project'' "unethical and dishonest" in their treatment of him. He said that Collingwood coach,

Nathan Buckley Nathan Charles Buckley (born 26 July 1972) is a former professional Australian rules football coach, player and commentator. He is listed by journalist Mike Sheahan as one of the top 50 players of all time. Buckley won the inaugural Rising S ...

, told him to back off his accusations because it would throw the club president,

Eddie McGuire Edward Joseph McGuire (born 29 October 1964) is an Australian television and radio presenter, journalist, Australian Football League commentator and former TV executive. He is also an occasional ''Herald Sun'' newspaper columnist. He hosted C ...

, "under the bus". Collingwood wanted to sit down with Lumumba to reconcile, but Lumumba refused until he received a full acknowledgement and apology over his treatment. Lumumba's accounts of racism were rejected by former coach

, Buckley and McGuire, but they were affirmed by a number of players including Chris Dawes, Brent Macaffer, Leon Davis,

Andrew Krakouer Andrew James Krakouer (4 February 1983 – 30 March 2025) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Richmond Football Club and Collingwood Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Early life Krakouer was born in Melb ...

, Chris Egan and Shae McNamara. 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. In 2021, the ''Do Better'' report was leaked to the Australian media. The report found the Collingwood Football Club guilty of systemic racism. This has led to calls for ''The Project'', and hosts

and

Peter Helliar Pete Jason Matthew Helliar (born 16 June 1975) is an Australian comedian, actor, television, radio presenter, writer, producer and director. He is best known for his work on television as a former regular co-host of '' The Project'' on Network ...

, to apologise on-air. Helliar has written an apology, "This report is heartbreaking. To @iamlumumba I am truly, unequivocally sorry. I should have believed you. I will do better." A few days later, the interview was no longer accessible on the program's Facebook account. A former executive producer at ''Network 10'' stated, "What 'The Project' should do right now is show a bit of that clip, have Waleed and Pete sit there and talk about it and the lessons they've learned and what they'll do going forward."

Personal life

Lumumba was born to an

Afro-Brazilian Afro-Brazilians (; ), also known as Black Brazilians (), are Brazilians of total or predominantly Sub-Saharan African ancestry. Most multiracial Brazilians also have a range of degree of African ancestry. Brazilians whose African features are mo ...

mother and a Congolese- Angolan father in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, and moved to

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, Western Australia when he was 3 years old. He went to school at Rossmoyne Primary from 1994 to 1999 and then Rossmoyne Senior High School. He supported the

Essendon Bombers The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers or colloquially the Dons, is a professional Australian rules football club that plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the game's premier competition. The club was formed by the McCrac ...

as a child, with his family owning a pet dog named Sheedy after the long-time Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy. Lumumba was raised by his Australian stepfather, Ralph, who died by

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

shortly before the start of the 2009 football season; Lumumba considered taking a year off football to be with his family but ultimately decided to continue playing. He was 19 years old when he was reunited with his biological father, after spending 13 years apart. Lumumba's younger sister, Raquel O’Brien, is a

podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...

producer who has spoken publicly about her traumatic childhood. 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". In December 2013, he changed his surname back to "Lumumba" and discontinued the use of the nickname "Harry", citing his journey of

decolonisation Decolonization is the undoing of colonialism, the latter being the process whereby Imperialism, imperial nations establish and dominate foreign territories, often overseas. The meanings and applications of the term are disputed. Some scholar ...

as the reason for the change. Lumumba became the AFL's first multicultural

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

and worked to engage migrant communities through football. He was the AFL's multicultural ambassador from 2006 to 2013. In 2012, Prime Minister

recognised Lumumba as one of the People of Australia ambassadors. He was also made the ambassador to the

Dalai Lama The Dalai Lama (, ; ) is the head of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. The term is part of the full title "Holiness Knowing Everything Vajradhara Dalai Lama" (圣识一切瓦齐尔达喇达赖喇嘛) given by Altan Khan, the first Shu ...

's visit to Australia in June 2011.

Statistics

, - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, , 43 , , 4 , , 1 , , 1 , , 22 , , 16 , , 38 , , 8 , , 7 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 5.5 , , 4.0 , , 9.5 , , 2.0 , , 1.8 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, , 43 , , 9 , , 0 , , 0 , , 51 , , 43 , , 94 , , 25 , , 12 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 5.7 , , 4.8 , , 10.4 , , 2.8 , , 1.3 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, , 30 , , 23 , , 0 , , 1 , , 153 , , 93 , , 246 , , 74 , , 57 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 6.7 , , 4.0 , , 10.7 , , 3.2 , , 2.5 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, , 8 , , 24 , , 2 , , 1 , , 189 , , 140 , , 329 , , 106 , , 45 , , 0.1 , , 0.0 , , 7.9 , , 5.8 , , 13.7 , , 4.4 , , 1.9 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, , 8 , , 25 , , 5 , , 0 , , 230 , , 172 , , 402 , , 106 , , 45 , , 0.2 , , 0.0 , , 9.2 , , 6.9 , , 16.1 , , 4.2 , , 1.8 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, , 8 , , 26 , , 6 , , 4 , , 264 , , 142 , , 406 , , 99 , , 62 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 10.2 , , 5.5 , , 15.6 , , 3.8 , , 2.4 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, , 8 , , 24 , , 1 , , 2 , , 245 , , 176 , , 421 , , 110 , , 43 , , 0.0 , , 0.1 , , 10.2 , , 7.3 , , 17.5 , , 4.6 , , 1.8 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, , 8 , , 24 , , 3 , , 2 , , 239 , , 146 , , 385 , , 94 , , 58 , , 0.1 , , 0.1 , , 10.0 , , 6.1 , , 16.0 , , 3.9 , , 2.4 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, , 8 , , 19 , , 7 , , 10 , , 263 , , 161 , , 424 , , 105 , , 47 , , 0.4 , , 0.5 , , 13.8 , , 8.5 , , 22.3 , , 5.5 , , 2.5 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, , 8 , , 21 , , 3 , , 5 , , 222 , , 198 , , 420 , , 82 , , 55 , , 0.1 , , 0.2 , , 10.6 , , 9.4 , , 20.0 , , 3.9 , , 2.6 , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, , 8 , , 19 , , 2 , , 1 , , 143 , , 127 , , 270 , , 61 , , 61 , , 0.1 , , 0.1 , , 7.5 , , 6.7 , , 14.2 , , 3.2 , , 3.2 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, , 8 , , 5 , , 0 , , 0 , , 41 , , 45 , , 86 , , 21 , , 8 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 8.2 , , 9.0 , , 17.2 , , 4.2 , , 1.6 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 223 ! 30 ! 27 ! 2062 ! 1459 ! 3521 ! 891 ! 500 ! 0.1 ! 0.1 ! 9.3 ! 6.5 ! 15.8 ! 4.0 ! 2.2

Honours and achievements

Team *

McClelland Trophy The McClelland Trophy is an Australian rules football club championship trophy, awarded each year to the club with the best aggregate performance across the Australian Football League (AFL) and AFL Women's (AFLW) seasons. The trophy was inaugur ...

(2):

Individual *

All-Australian The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perfo ...

Books

Lumumba published a book in 2014 called ''It's Cool to be Conscious'', that includes personal stories from his life, both on and off the field. *

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lumumba, Heritier 1986 births Living people VFL/AFL players born outside Australia All-Australians (AFL) Collingwood Football Club players Collingwood Football Club premiership players Melbourne Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Western Australia Brazilian emigrants to Australia Australian people of Brazilian descent Australian people of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent Australian people of Angolan descent Brazilian people of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent Brazilian people of Angolan descent Sportspeople of Angolan descent Sportspeople from Rio de Janeiro (city) People educated at Rossmoyne Senior High School VFL/AFL premiership players