OU professor honored with ‘Book of the Year’ award

Minnesota’s Black Community in the 21^st Century, a book co-edited by Oakland University Professor Chaunda L. Scott, has received the 2020 R. Wayne Pace Human Resource Development Book of the Year Award from the Academy of Human Resource Development, a global professional organization that encourages and highlights the systemic study of human resource development theories, processes, and practices.

“It is gratifying to be a recipient of the 2020 Human Resource Development R. Wayne Pace Book of the Year Award and to know that a professional and respected global organization like the Academy of Human Resource Development recognizes and values African American professional success through the lens of human resource development and career development,,” said Scott, an associate professor of Human Resource Development and graduate coordinator of the Human Diversity Inclusion and Social Justice Graduate Certificate Program in the Department of Organizational Leadership in OU’s School of Education and Human Services.

Dr. Chaunda Scott's book cover

Produced by Minnesota’s Black Community Project and published in April 2020 by the Minnesota Historical Society Press, the book builds off the research of the late Walter R. Scott, Sr. — father of Dr. Chaunda Scott — by eloquently highlighting what successful African American human resource development and career development looks like presently in Minnesota in a variety of career fields utilizing professional photographs and summarized biographical sketches.

“For over 165 years to the present, a small population of African Americans in Minnesota have lived and thrived in cities surrounding Minneapolis and St. Paul,” Scott said. “During 1950 through 2015, distinguished African American Minnesota researchers and scholars, including the late Walter R. Scott, Sr., Dr. David Taylor, and Dr. William Green, began documenting and publishing the historical accomplishments of African American pioneers in Minnesota during the 19^th and 20^th centuries.

“However, presently in the 21^st century, documented and published research remains scant that highlights the contemporary accomplishments and contributions of African American trailblazers that are thriving in Minnesota,” Scott added.

To fill this void in the Minnesota historical literature, seven professional African Americans in Minnesota — Anthony R. Scott; Dr. Charles E. Crutchfield, III; Dr. Chaunda L. Scott; Christopher Crutchfield; George J. Scott; Dr. Charles E. Crutchfield, II; and Beverly Lampkins — came together in 2015 to develop and launch a much-needed effort entitled Minnesota’s Black Community Project (MBCP), a non-profit that publicly acknowledges and celebrates the accomplishments of African Americans in Minnesota, past and present.

“A main goal of the MBCP is to change the negative narratives regarding how African Americans are mainly portrayed in the media in Minnesota and worldwide by highlighting publicly what African American success looks like,” said Scott, who also serves as secretary of the MBCP.

“Therefore, as a committed board member of the MBCP, I wanted to be a part of this critical book project to change the negative narratives regarding how African Americans are being perceived in the media in Minnesota, to further my father’s research on successful African Americans in Minnesota, and to assist in creating a Minnesota historical record that acknowledges the meaningful contributions of successful African Americans in Minnesota.”

For more information regarding Minnesota’s Black Community Project, contact Dr. Chaunda L. Scott, secretary of Minnesota’s Black Community Project, at [email protected].