The proportion of Black psychologists is exceptionally small which may limit the accessibility of culturally competent mental health services for Black clients. The current project was an attempt to understand factors that help recruit, retain, and graduate Black doctoral students in psychology. This exploratory investigation probed of the lived experiences of Black doctoral psychology students in predominantly White Psy.D. programs. Thirteen current Black students in two Psy.D. doctoral participated in semi-structured interviews that explored the protective factors that had enabled them to pursue their studies. They were also asked to recount their experiences as a Black student in their classes or field sites and to recall any experiences of microaggressions they have faced during the course of their training. Interviews were analyzed for recurrent themes using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Eleven of the 13 participants spoke to the support they had received from family and friends as essential to their perseverance in their doctoral program. Several participants also talked about the importance of mentors as well as other factors such as gender, racial identity and spirituality. Ten participants spontaneously commented on the pressure they felt as one of few Black students in their program. They were often called upon to be a spokesperson for the entire Black community and some felt a compelled to excel as a positive token for the Black community. All but two of the participants described microaggressions they had experienced over the course of the program. The findings indicated the importance of social support networks and the presence of mentors in insuring recruitment, retention, and program completion. Recommendations included insuring that Black doctoral students have multicultural competent mentors and that the school administration and community make an active commitment to authentic cultural awareness. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]