Former Triple J news presenter turned Today show entertainment reporter, proud Gamilaroi woman and all-around legend Brooke Boney went viral very shortly into her commercial TV stint with this powerful explainer on “Australia Day”.
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It was an incredibly brave move, especially since she copped just as much backlash as she did praise after speaking out. In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald published on the weekend, Brooke recalls apologising to her family after the TV moment went viral.
It’s difficult to see things written about your family or your siblings, and I did message my brother afterwards to say, ‘I’m sorry everyone thinks you went to jail!’ He wrote me back saying, ‘I’m so proud of you and what you’re doing is important, keep going.’
(In the viral vid, Brooke made the point that her brothers, statistically speaking, are far more likely to go to jail than they are to go to school).
In the interview, Brooke also recalls the horrific racist treatment she endured while at school in the town of Muswellbrook, located in the northern Hunter Region of NSW, telling the SMH that: “One guy at school called me the n-word and slammed me against a wall.”
She talks about how this treatment actually prompted her to not only work towards a career in the media, but to use it as a platform to bring awareness to Indigenous issues, such as the “Change The Date” debate. “If I can contribute to that conversation in any way, that’s my goal,” she tells SMH. “That’s why I wanted to be a journalist, that’s why I’ve worked so hard to get to this position.”
The 31-year-old adds:
When you’re growing up in the country, watching the Today show or whatever, it feels like a whole world away, a world you don’t have access to and that you’re not part of. If a young black girl in Toomelah can think, ‘If she can do that, maybe I can,’ well, that’s how you overcome these things.
To read the full interview with Brooke (and we highly recommend that you do because she’s awesome), head HERE.
