Hi Linda. I know your name, too 🙂 and I am Egyptian. I’m confused as to why you would
A. Talk about Egypt as a place that had not been colonized? Egypt was colonized and plundered by the British, had a small spell with the French, and historically of course pretty much by everyone (Ottomans, Arabs, Romans, Greeks) and also the dominance of the English language and neocolonialism of the US… all of these things affect Egypt

B. Egypt is technically part of Africa. It’s not the same context as subSaharan Africa in many ways, but it is not a rich country by any means. Some funding sources exclude Egypt and South Africa from eligibility for African funding for some reason (so I see we are considered somewhat privileged within Africa). Some people separate North Africa from rest of Africa (ppl within Africa and people outside it) and consider it part of the Middle East.

Egypt is all these things. It is African, Arab, majority Muslim, historically pagan, influenced by French and British colonialism.

Yes, Egyptians were not taken as slaves to America, but as an African I empathize with that. Yes, ancient Egyptian enslaved people, and so on.

I have also lived in the US and UK and attitudes towards immigrants from previously colonized countries are there.

Edward Said who first talked about orientalism and postcolonialism is of Palestinian origin (the connection with British colonialism followed by the establishment of state of Israel is there) but he also grew up in Egypt and in his books talks also about the Arab world.

So yeah. Whether or not you consider Egypt part of Africa, Egypt technically is, and Egypt has been colonized, and some Egyptians identify closely with Africans.

I was recently keynoting in South Africa and felt from people there so much African pride and connection.