Maya
Miller - In Remembrance
By Bobbie Wrenn Banks, June 2006 | Maya
Miller web site
 |
Maya
Miller, philanthropist and champion for peace
and the environment, died on May 31, 2006 at her
ranch in Nevada. She was 90 years old. Her
life epitomizes WAND's mission to empower women
to act politically. She understood that change
will come when women take the lead. |
As
peace activist, Maya Miller was a force to be reckoned
with. She resigned her seat on the board
of the national League of Women Voters when the group
voted down an anti-Vietnam war resolution in 1969.
When the U.S. threatened to invade Nicaragua, she
flew into that country and bought a beach house that
would stand in the way of an invasion by sea.
At
seventy-five, defying a U.S. embargo, she drove a
truck loaded with $100,000 worth of medicine and food
from Jordan to Baghdad. Most recently she
marched in front of the Nevada state capitol to protest
the U.S. war on Iraq.
Miller
sought fairness and respect for welfare recipients
and in so doing tangled with the Nevada legislature.
A legendary incident occurred in 1973 during a welfare
policy meeting. Legislators had their lunch brought
in and ate in front of the welfare group, which included
welfare recipients. Then they offered their leftovers
to the group. Maya grabbed the food and threw it on
the floor. Forced to apologize or be banned from the
building, she said, "I am sorry for the litter,
but I cannot tell you I am sorry for my impatience
or my sense of outrage at the violence Nevada does
daily to its poor children. As I saw in the lounge
on Friday watching men eat and talk while women listened
and watched I was overwhelmed by the sense of those
poor women's patience."
Women's
organizations gained much from Miller's leadership
and support. She served the League of Women
voters as state president and national board member.
She was a founder of the Women's Campaign Fund. She
backed Emily's List in the early days and helped that
organization become a key resource for pro-choice
Democratic women candidates. She herself ran for the
U.S. Senate in 1974. In 2000, the Nevada Women's Lobby
established the Maya Miller Egalitarian Award and
presented Miller with the first award.
Miller
funded Nevada delegations to the WAND/WiLL national
conference, enabling these women to share their expertise
on nuclear waste storage at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles
north of Las Vegas. One of those delegates was Judy
Treichel, executive director of the Nevada Nuclear
Waste Task Force, who for over 25 years fought the
nuclear waste battle alongside her good friend, Maya
Miller. Treichel recalls, "She kept the
Nevada Nuclear Waste Task Force afloat in the lean
years when others had gotten tired of this seemingly
endless battle."
Just
as Maya Miller fought to save Yucca Mountain and drove
her truck into the center of Baghdad, so we must each
in our own way trek into the heart of our troubled
world and do what we can. Knowing women like Maya
Miller makes the journey not only possible but also
inspired. What an honor it is to follow on the road
she has set for us.
WAND
members wishing to make a gift in honor and memory
of Maya Miller may send donations to two of WAND's
partner organizations:
The Nevada Nuclear Waste Task Force, P. O. Box 26177,
Las Vegas, NV 89126, www.nvantinuclear.org
or
The Nevada Women's Agenda, P.O. Box 5565, Reno, NV
89513, www.nevadawomenslobby.org
