This article examines the experiences of a cohort of seven urban educators who conducted action research over a two-year period. Of the seven participants, six were teacher-researchers ("TRs") and one was a bilingual coordinator. The author provides an analysis of focus group discussions conducted after the completion of the action research projects, in particular six sessions dedicated to the themes of "empowerment" and "transformation" framed by a special issue of "Teacher Education Quarterly," and vignettes from three illustrative projects. The three cases were selected to demonstrate the range of topics, issues, and populations embraced by the teachers. By synthesizing the narratives and reflections of multiple action research journeys into a single "meta-narrative," this study aims to build upon the extant literature on action-research based approaches to in-service teacher training. While carrying out action research can be considered a "messy" process for individual teachers, synthesizing multiple projects could be even messier. This was the challenge of this study; however, this type of meta-analysis is necessary toward broadening the dialogue about the dynamic potential of action-based approaches to teacher development. Through the voices of practitioners immersed in the lives of historically marginalized schools and communities, this article provides a framework for synthesizing and to some degree assessing teacher reflections about their action research journey, the meaning of the process to multiple stake-holders, the challenges they named, how they navigated the challenges, and ultimately some of the changes they named in themselves, their schools, and communities. Given the national trend toward "scientific" and essentialist approaches to student learning and teacher education there are significant implications for teacher identity and epistemology(s). More specifically, the TRs in this study emphasized the importance of "problematizing" issues rather than "fixing" them, appreciating "complexity" over simplicity, becoming comfortable with discomfort and "uncertainty," and becoming a more complete member of their respective communities. The author discusses the context and methods for these emergent themes. (Contains 2 tables and 1 note.)