CounterPunch Exclusives

CounterPunch Exclusives

John M. Miller, ¡Presente!

John in Timor-Leste. Credit: East Timor and Indonesia Action Network.

Unexpectedly on April 28th of this year, John M. Miller, lifelong anti-militarism activist, died at his apartment in East Harlem of heart disease. He was 70 years old. John was a dear friend, a comrade, and a beloved family member. He was also one of those most effective activists I’ve known, and by far one of the most humble and modest. I’ll miss him for my remaining years, as will so many others.

John is perhaps best known as co-founder of the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) – earlier known as the East Timor Action Network, but renamed in recognition of a wider mission after Timor-Leste gained independence – which played a critical role in mobilizing activists in support of the Timorese self-determination struggle following the bloody Santa Cruz massacre in 1991.

But John’s contributions to social justice struggles went far beyond ETAN.

While working at a long-gone book shop in Washington, D.C. in the late 1970s, John became involved in anti-nuclear struggles with the Potomac Alliance, coordinating their newsletter until 1981. In 1979 he helped organize the May 6 Coalition, which saw tens of thousands march on the Capitol in the wake of the Three Mile Island nuclear nightmare in Pennsylvania. For years, he served on the steering committee of National Mobilization for Survival (better known as ‘Mobe’) and worked as a staff member there, as well as editor of their journal, Mobilization.

In the early 1980s, John became a staff member for WIN Magazine, the journal published by the War Resisters League (WRL), an organization that became John’s political home until he passed. He also published frequently in The Guardian, along with many other outlets, about environmental justice and militarism.

John saw the need for U.S. activists to focus attention on solidarity work with struggles in Asia, and for years he served as co-coordinator with the Campaign Against U.S. Military Bases in the Philippines and the Philippine Bases Network. He also put himself on the frontlines many times over decades. In a recent interview, Charlie Scheiner, co-founder of ETAN, recalled to me,

In 1986, in the Philippines, activists organized demonstrations and marches that led to the overthrow of Ferdinand Marcos, who had been the U.S.-supported dictator for decades (and whose son is now president of the Philippines, unfortunately). John and I were both involved with that, and we went there. At a march in downtown Manila, the leaders asked us to be in the front because they thought the police would be less likely to attack if there were white people, particularly Americans, visible there. So we did that.

In 1986, in the Philippines, activists organized demonstrations and marches that led to the overthrow of Ferdinand Marcos, who had been the U.S.-supported dictator for decades (and whose son is now president of the Philippines, unfortunately). John and I were both involved with that, and we went there. At a march in downtown Manila, the leaders asked us to be in the front because they thought the police would be less likely to attack if there were white people, particularly Americans, visible there. So we did that.

In spring 1988, John formed the Foreign Bases Project, a mostly one-person operation that produced important research and through which he organized against U.S.........

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