Recently, I had the opportunity to stay at Walt DisneyWorld’s Animal Kingdom Lodge. I didn’t make the reservation, and frankly had no idea what I was getting into . . . .

Apparantly, the folks at DisneyWorld openend this new ‘resort’ in the spring of 2001. The theme? Africa? Which country? Don’t ask — it’s the whole damn continent.

You can only imagine my horror as I walked into this resort after five hours on a cross country flight.

Africa? The desk clerks were dressed like they were going on safari — pith helmets excluded. I learned then that our room had a savannah view? The savannah? in Florida?

As we looked around for a quick snack, I ran across a Hatian woman in ‘traditional’ African clothing (post-colonial, of course) — and if I hadn’t been tired, I would have pulled her aside and asked her what in the hell we were doing here . . . .

The fast food servers — yes, I’m hanging my head in shame — were wearing kente cloth shirts. You’ll just have to imagine, commercialized Africa meets McDonalds.

But, we mustn’t get sidetracked by these little insults. Keep in mind, this resort is called the Animal Kingdom Lodge. That’s right. Imagine, the spirit of Africa right outside your room. Daily, zoo keepers, feed and parade giraffes, zebras, and other animals right in front of your balcony.

Everywhere, we’re being told we’re getting the spirit of Africa. Ghana — the originator of Kente Cloth in the twelth century, south sarahan Africa — the home of giraffes, or the habitat of many zebras in the mountains of South Africa. Who knows?

Africa was one big commodity there in Florida. Want fufu — albeit, highly sweetened — they’ve got it. Want African carvings — they’re at the Disney store (excuse me the Zawadi marketplace store).

I think it’s what most Americans and Europeans want in their African experience — no Africans. Believe me it’s completely sanitized of black people — no residuals of colonialism — just animals. No civil strife born of unnatural European political divisions, just carvings. It’s Africa, lite.

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