Libyan-Americans are celebrating the death of former dictator Moammar Gadhafi. Khaled M. is a 26-year-old Libyan-American rapper from Chicago. In his own way Khaled has followed in his parents footsteps. They spent most of their lives fighting the Gadhafi regime through community organizing and student activism. His father, Mohamed Ahmed, was a political prisoner from 1972 to 1977 after leading student groups against Gadhafi. Mohamed Ahmed was able to escape prison, flee Libya and lead opposition groups from abroad. But after three years of running, the family decided to raise Khaled and his two brothers in one town. The family settled in Kentucky, Khaled says, because “Gadhafi’s assassins would never look for members of the opposition in Lexington.”
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