Social capital is an under investigated resource that many students access to increase their human capital. Within disadvantaged communities, social capital is not readily available to African American male adolescents. This narrative inquiry study explored how social capital impacted the academic achievement of young African-American males during their K-12 educational experience. The participants were African American male adults who attended Detroit Public schools during 2003-2017, graduated from high school, and had some college at a minimal. Through in-depth interviews, the 12 African American young men recalled, reflected on, and discussed their educational experiences, and how their social networks impacted those experiences. The findings indicated that social capital exists in adaptive, simplified form in the urban disadvantaged context. Teachers and selective schools are significant sources of social capital particularly when African American male adolescents identified an early interest in sports, music, art, and journalism. Other sources of social capital were accessed outside of their communities. Numerous positive social elements in the lives of African American male adolescents equated to higher educational attainment. [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.]