A series of focus groups with black teachers across the United States shows that black teachers bring to their work many skills that often go far beyond their roles as content experts and instructors. They build relationships with students of color that help those students feel connected to their schools, they tend to be "warm demanders," holding all students to high expectations and as colleagues, they tend to enhance cultural understanding among teachers and administrators of differing races and backgrounds. What they need from school and district leaders is more support for developing the mature, respectful, and diverse working environment in which black teachers and all of their colleagues can thrive.