Chicken on a Leash: Lessons in Strength of Mind
by Dorothea Grimes-Frederick

The sibilant sound of ’Girl, you know you crazy!’ resonates through our common airspace matter-of-factly. We grow up with different flavors of insanity all around. For our family it was great aunt Henrietta, who stopped wearing underwear because the Lord told her so. At least that is how she interpreted the Lord’s divine message. Aunt Henrietta is proof that even the holiest require a personal crusade to stay sane. Chicken on a Leash: Lessons in Strength in Mind recognizes the challenges of growing into personal leadership - getting from there to here - sane. It is about one African American woman of color who reaches back into her childhood diary to see where her lessons in leadership began. To her amazement, leadership was rooted in the most insane, bizarre, or even violent moments. Susan Raleigh finds that life’s path though littered with lessons in insanity, paved the way for purposeful leadership and strength of mind in every facet of her life from the bedroom to the boardroom. Readers will be able to wrestle with their own paths through the experiences of Dr. Susan Raleigh who eventually finds herself asking: ’How did I manage to grow up sane?’ The answer is amply described in thirty personality-shaping events that she adeptly calls: Lessons in Strength of Mind.