This is a study of African American male teachers' experiences in K-12 schools across multiple states and school districts. The research explores the motivation of African American male teachers to consider a career in teaching; the challenges they faced in the teacher education programs and in the classroom; their support systems that they had from beginning of the education journey to today; and how they actually described the experiences of being an African American male teacher in urban, suburban, and other settings within the K-12 learning environment, including understanding the underlying forces that affected these teachers' decisions to change careers or to stay in their current schools or the teaching profession altogether. This qualitative study obtained data from ten African American male teachers by using an in-depth interview structure with 22 open-ended questions that lasted 50-90 minutes. This dissertation builds on the growing literature that investigates the shortage of minorities in education and how improving diversity in the classroom can change school dynamics that affect the pathways into the teaching profession, recruiting, retaining and experiences of African American male teachers. [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.]