Those pickup games were the first of many times King has leveled the playing field for women in sports. She also has earned a national reputation for her tireless efforts on behalf of women in the state Democratic Party. A grassroots activist and lawyer who is not afraid to make people mad, King has organized women in living rooms, on the phone and in beauty parlors. She has financed many efforts out of her grocery budget because there was no national women's organization to provide funding, and often pressed her three children into stuffing envelopes or wearing sandwich boards to further her causes. I have many times assembled women who are afraid and taught them how to represent themselves and made them stronger.
Women are afraid of confrontation.
They have been so punished for standing up for themselves. If a whole lot of people are mad at you, you must be doing something right. In 1970, King filed her most noteworthy action against a university, coauthoring a complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Labor against the University of Michigan for sex discrimination in admissions, financial aid, employment and athletics. The complaint sparked a federal investigation and led to reforms at other universities. When U-M refused to comply with the Department of Health, Education and Welfare's demands to increase women's admissions and provide gender equity in athletics, it became the first university in the country to have federal grants withheld.