This paper presents the voices of thirteen pre- and in-service teachers to showcase their perspectives of culturally relevant pedagogy as a teaching framework. Positionality, critical consciousness, and cultural assets are used as foundations to explore social justice pedagogy. These new teachers discuss the challenges they face in making the transition from the university to the K-12 classroom. Specifically, they identify generalized assumptions about ethnicity by practicing teachers to underscore the existing models for cultural relevance at their school sites. They speak to confronting these generalizations by trying to authentically center their students' lived experiences in their pedagogy and building curriculum that focuses on students' strengths. Findings are discussed in terms of the need for us as teacher educators to learn from and with new teachers to model equitable practices and develop programs that push traditional understandings of culturally relevant pedagogy.