This essay addresses a call for research involving African Americans to interpret data from the historical, contemporary, and cultural experiences of African Americans. The essay argues for a science education research approach that explicitly considers the positionality of African Americans in the United States. This positionality involves the negotiation of three distinct and conflicting realms of experience that pertain to oppression, African-rooted Black culture, and the dominant culture in the United States. The theoretical tool proposed in this essay accommodates the positionality of African Americans by superimposing it upon a model that synthesizes the ideas of Michael Cole (cultural-historical activity theory) and Urie Bronfenbrenner (ecology of human development). (Contains 2 figures and 2 footnotes.)