The story of the first Aboriginal Olympian
My Cousin Frank is a storytelling experience with one of Australia’s greatest artistic and cultural leaders, Rhoda Roberts AO. Join Rhoda for a special evening in August as she shares tales of her first cousin Frank Roberts, a boxing champion who was the first Aboriginal Olympian.
What makes My Cousin Frank a story that everyone should hear?
This is a story of perseverance – that you as an individual have value. Frank (Francis) Roberts is reminded of that through the belief, discipline and persistence of his grandparents, Frank Snr and Dorothy Snr. It’s a world where home is a shanty dwelling of corrugated iron and hessians bags. But just as the rammed earth floors shone every day, so too did the love.
Frank rises against the stigmas and labels placed on him by the policies, politics, institutions and judiciary. When the odds are packed against you, Frank does what so many have – he builds his shield with an emotional strength– and takes to the ring. While he can knock the best bloke to the ground, he is guided by the ancestral and spiritual teachings and learnings of his family.
How important is it that the story gets told in its raw storytelling form first – for the family, community and audience?
Lismore is home to the first Aboriginal signed to an Olympic team. Frank Roberts is our Rocky or our Don Bradman. That’s amazing – it’s in our shared history and we should be full of pride.
For the family, showmanship stretches back generations, centuries and millennia – it’s in the corroboree and our oral stories handed down through families which have reminded us that we are the fighting Roberts of Lismore.
We want to give the background, set the landscape, and the political times. You need to understand and know the truthful history – some of it’s ugly, but mostly it’s about sporting greatness and the men and women who recognised a champion.
We want to develop a full theatre production called ‘First Aboriginal Olympian’ but the history and story is complex, layered and epic. It’s a story of excellence and we want to tell that through excellence on stage, and that takes considerable time and investment. My Cousin Frank is the first step in elevating the story of a local man who imagined and achieved a future.
How does Frank’s journey from a boxing champion to a cultural icon resonate with today’s community?
They called him ‘Honest Frank’ and that is something for an Aboriginal man in the ‘60s when many thought of us as thieves – but we were taught ‘thou shalt not steal’.
Frank Roberts was an Aboriginal man from a community built by his families on their inherited estates, their unceded lands. For the Roberts, home was the reserve called Cubawee. But it was considered an eyesore by the local council and they set about bulldozing our homes at the very same time Frank is an international elite athlete fighting for a medal in the 1964 Olympic Games.
Frank was not perfect but he was a gentle, wise man who guided many. He made sure our youth had a place in training and a chance in the ring. He had a voice that spoke of hope and empowerment – giving value to all human beings.
Join Rhoda Roberts AO for My Cousin Frank on August 24 at 2pm and 7.30pm at Lismore Star Court Theatre, and August 30 and 31 at 7.30pm (and 2pm Saturday) at the Byron Theatre. Tickets $30–$59 at www.norpa.org.au.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
