This story reviews the highlights of Billie Jean King's career in tennis and and social activism.
People who played tennis or followed sports in the 1950's and 60's often like to talk about Billie Jean King. But King was a popular culture icon who was larger than sports. Women and many minorities who suffered discrimination are still very aware of the contribution she made. And people who admired athletics and activism hold her in very high esteem.
But you can also use this story to get at personal stories. Because tennis is a sport that an amateur can play for a lifetime, like golf, you can use these stories, biography in particular, to initiate conversation about personal experience with sports. Again, though, with regard to civil rights, equal pay for equal work, discrimination in the workplace, and so on, lots of people had personal experiences they might be more willing to talk about in the context of her own search for respect and fairness.
