Tyrone Howard is Professor of Education at UCLA; Associate Dean of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion; and former Director of Center X, which is where UCLA's teacher education program is housed. Center X provides a unique setting where researchers and practitioners collaborate to design and conduct programs that prepare and support K-12 teachers and administrators committed to social justice, instructional excellence, the integration of research and practice, and caring in low-income urban schools. Howard is also the director of the Black Male Institute at UCLA, which focuses on the recruitment, retention, and success of Black men in college and in K-12 schools. His recent book, "Why Race and Culture Matter in Schools: Closing the Achievement Gap in America's Classrooms" (2010, Teachers College Press), has received acclaim for creating an urgent, personal, and moral responsibility to create a more equitable system of education for "all" children. Dr. Howard was the keynote speaker at the Ball State University inaugural Summer Institute on Culturally Responsive, Community-Engaged Teacher Education, held in June of 2015. Following his presentation, Drs. Eva Zygmunt and Patricia Clark, Institute organizers, sat down with Dr. Howard to discuss his views on the preparation of teachers in order to realize true equity in education. This article provides excerpts from that conversation.