“Be all you can be” is a slogan of the U.S. Army and that is exactly what veteran Michael Furby has done.

Years after completing high school at Woodland Hills and tours of duty in the U.S. Navy, U.S. Army Reserves, and the U.S. National Guard, Furby was looking for a civilian job. He stepped into the Career Link in Johnstown, Pa., and discovered that he qualified for the Job Corps under the veteran’s disability waiver. His whole life turned around.

MICHAEL FURBY

Diamond Rodgers from McKeesport is 18 years old. Her favorite quote is “A mind is a terrible thing to waste.”

A year and a half ago she made a decision to keep her mind active and engaged in an educational pursuit. She was living in Brooklyn, N.Y. and dropped out of high school after her junior year.

DIAMOND RODGERS

The public has a rare opportunity to make sure that organizations and institutions treat them fairly. The U.S. Department of Education is accepting comments on proposed federal regulations that will govern career education programs. These include most programs at for-profit colleges, where about half of undergraduate students are people of color.

Career education is supposed to prepare people for specific jobs in fields like culinary arts, criminal justice, medical assisting, auto repair and many others.  But too many for-profit career colleges are roping in students with deceptive marketing and aggressive sales tactics, providing substandard training, and leaving students deep in debt they cannot repay  A recent Government Accountability Office investigation documented some of these exploitative practices, including lying to prospective students about job prospects and even encouraging them to commit fraud.

“I’m driven by the things my son was blessed with in his lifetime,” said Afeni Shakur. “I have no right to hold Tupac’s art hostage, so we will continue to share the enormous body of work he left behind with the world.”

Born Alice Faye Williams, in Lumberton, N.C., in 1947 she moved to the Bronx, N.Y., to pursue her dream in the performing arts. As a young girl with many ideals and aspirations, her view would be changed forever. Young Alice was introduced to the Nation of Islam and immersed herself in the teachings of El Hadji Malik Shabazz, known to the world as Malcolm X and which Afeni Shakur was reborn.

CHAIRS—From left: Chelsea Cox, Black line chair; Afeni Shakur; and Brittany Robertson, co-chair.