Evette Maria Justus (November 11, 1948 - January 14, 2006)
Below is a news article about the Memorial Peace Commission
proposal of 1983, "dedicated to the memory of all those
who have died before us" including Kevin Moran who was
killed outside the Isla Vista Bank of America Building during
the riots against the war there in the 1970's when that bank
was burned down by protestors rioting to stop the Vietnam War.
The bank was quickly rebuilt and was in operation until the early
1980's when the Bank of America closed it down and moved out.
When the bank was cleaned out, this proposal was offered. This
was not the first newspaper article on this Memorial Peace
Commission proposal.
Daily Nexus
(student newspaper of the)
University of California at Santa Barbara
May 25, 1983
[photo, not shown here, bank vault door with
popcorn machine on wheels next to it, captioned:]
Old B of A vault remains behind; removal would
kick up dust that could damage video games.
- Nexus/Larry Loka
Memorial Peace Center
B Of A Building In I.V. Is Still Sought By Peace Commission
By Evette Justus
Nexus Staff Writer
After losing the entire former Bank of America building in
Isla Vista to a video game room, the Memorial Peace Commission
has begun negotiating with the present manager to sublease a
portion of the building for the Isla Vista Memorial Peace Center.
The conditions of manager Hal Harris' lease, however, do not
allow him to sublease any part of the property without approval
from B of A officials.
Harris said he contacted B of A regarding the proposed sublease
and was told by a bank official, whom he said chose to remain
anonymous, that under no circumstances would B of A approve
a sublease to the peace commission.
Daniel Jones, Bank of America vice president in the corporate
real estate division, said the bank has not received any offers
concerning proposals for sublease. "The bank is generally willing
to do business with anyone capable of meeting the requirements,"
he said. The process for the leasing or subleasing of any B of A
owned property follows a standard bank review and approval
decision, Jones said.
On May 17, a discussion took place between Harris, the new
13-year lease holder of the former Bank building and David
Crockett Williams, Jr., acting executive director of the
Memorial Peace Commission for the creation of a peace
center.
After the meeting, according to Harris, he felt understanding
and agreement with the peace commission's proposal and
was willing to sublease space in the building to the commission.
"Personally, I believe the B of A's reasons for denial of the sublease
are strictly financial," Harris said. "I would like to help the peace
commission become established here. However, B of A holds the
lease and at this point there really is nothing I can do. I can't
risk them getting angry at me."
"Hal Harris is open, supportive, and helpful to the cause of
the peace commission's work here and the problem in
communication is clearly between B of A and the peace
commission, not with Hal Harris," Williams said. "We are
preparing a proposal for the B of A and will be taking the
proposal to the B of A president in Los Angeles soon in
an effort to establish communications with that organization."
Harris said, "I have done all I can do to support the peace
commission's efforts at this point and I just hope the peace
commission and B of A officials can work out their differences.
I just want to establish the type of place here that Isla Vista
community members want to come and enjoy."
During the meeting, Williams presented Harris with an
extensive statement of activities planned for the center.
These include peace certification courses, religious services,
social events, peace monument constructions, human
relationship counseling, new inventions with specific
applications for the cause of peace, and a "whole earth
market" for distribution of peace commission endorsed
products for living in harmony with nature.
-----------end of retyped article, reprinted and made into
a flyer with Evette's handwritten lettering and a symbol:
Evette Justus
S.N.U.F.F.
Trailer 306D
UCSB
P.O. Box 13848
SB, CA
93107
SNUFF Endorses
IVMPC in the
direct cause of
world peace.
join
us
[the symbol for the Memorial Peace Commission
is a circle with another circle inside it and a dot
in the middle with an arrow going through the
whole symbol centered from bottom left to top
right at a 45 degree angle (1:30 position) point
of arrow at top right]
---------------
A call to action, by Evette Justus
Summer 1983
A call to action, proclamation and reaffirmation
to the women of Isla Vista. We as women know
the power of nurture, the necessity of spiritual
clarity, the value of oneness and the agony of
feeling alone and powerless. We know this in
our hearts because we are women.
Our love of all people, our desire to share, and
our love of growth unites us as women - equal
with men and ready to stand united for real
solution to today's problem.
We are fortunate to live in Isla Vista - the center
of consciousness and change is here in this place
and the bounty and abundance is here for us
now!
As men, our brothers have been taught to a greater
or lesser degree to strike out in violence and to
attempt to shape a new world from gunpowder.
We, as women, know the value of a kind word,
the clarity of pure love and the necessity of
firmness and gentleness combined.
1983 has been declared the summer of peace.
As women, our role is complex. We are the tool
for peace on this planet. We are the peacemakers
by virtue of having been born women in this life time
and to be living here in Isla Vista. We have been given
the honor of working for the universal solution to hunger,
abuse, fear, discrimination, and degradation of the human
spirit: An awesome task, yet one that is soluable from within.
from within we can experience peace and harmony and from
this space of "centered" we find the power to act and be
effective.
For me "Na Mu Myo Ho Ren Ge Kyo" is centering. For any one
else "Na Mu Myo Ho Ren Ge Kyo" can also be a valuable tool.
However, the power of "Na Mu Myo Ho Ren Ge Kyo" is powerful
in the reality that all beings are perfect and equal in that
perfection.
"Na Mu Myo Ho Ren Ge Kyo" negates nothing. The person
who centers through prayer to Jesus Christ is capable of
intensification of prayer through the power of
"Na Mu Myo Ho Ren Ge Kyo."
However, in 1983 our problem in the world has become
so complex, spirituality is not enough. In everyday life,
we must address reality based issues as well. For when
one is hungry...
-----end
(retyped from unfinished handwritten document)
-----------------------
EVETTE JUSTUS
Evette Justus, 57, died on Jan. 14, 2006 at her residence in Lewiston,
California, of natural causes. She was born on Nov. 11, 1948 in Kansas.
She lived for many years in Isla Vista California near UCSB. During 1977
she was the executive secretary of the Isla Vista Community Council.
She moved from Guadalupe, California to Trinity County in 2004.
She was a homemaker. She is survived by her daughter, Alyx Gille,
residing in Ireland, and her partner of two decades "Sam", ie,
Steven A. Michaelson.
I met Evette when she was a reporter for the UCSB student
newspaper who was sent on an assignment to interview me
for an article in the newspaper. Within a few weeks we
teamed up and had a couple of years together of intense
and productive partnership in peace activities and I think
that time was special to her as well as to me. There are
a few more newspaper articles that came out during that
time that also mention her but I have not yet typed them
up and posted them which I will now work towards doing
as an earlier priority.
We went to the Rainbow Gathering in California together
in the summer of 1984 and also to the spring gathering
that year in Arizona and from there conducted the peace
walk to the Big Mountain area on the Hopi and Navajo
Indian reservations and both had some special experiences
there during those adventures. Also during our time together
we did some things promoting the work in Santa Barbara of
Bruce DePalma when she was coordinating the Students for
a Nuclear Free Future group on campus there and under whose
auspices she was able to arrange for some presentations
at the University of his work on the new energy technologies
to replace nuclear and fossil fuel power.
http://www.depalma.pair.com
http://www.rainbowguide.info
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Rainbow-Colorado2006
We know that her spirit will always be with us
and that only her body will not. We had some
special spiritual experiences together including,
uniquely in my life, her chanting and drumming
with me the Na Mu Myo Ho Ren Ge Kyo mantra
per the teachings of Fujii Guruji, and she went
with me to the Sai Baba center in Southern
California where the elder there gave us their
special symbol to put onto the peace pole which
was done during our caravan to Dallas discussed
in other articles here of July-August 1984.
http://www.dharmawalk.org
http://www.sathyasai.org