EDITOR'S NOTE: “State of Black Women 'Mixed' After Marches” is the second of BlackAmericaWeb.com's three-part A Million More series examining the myriad issues to be addressed at this Saturday's Millions More Movement in Washington D.C. Coming Wednesday: the state of black families.

Click here for "A Million More, Part One: The State of Black Men 10 Years After the MMM."

Avis Jones-DeWeever was one of those women who defied the orders of Million Man March coordinators and chose to attend the historic gathering of black men in 1995. Two years later, DeWeever was at the Million Woman March, a similar call to action aimed at bringing to the forefront issues affecting the lives of black women and their families.

While both events were stirring moments in her life, DeWeever told BlackAmericaWeb.com that energy generated at the Million Man and Million Woman marches didn’t quite ignite the flames she thought would spark a new movement for blacks, especially black women.

“I had the good fortune of attending both, and I remember having a lot of optimism,” said DeWeever, a researcher with the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for Women’s Policy Research.” I felt energized, and I felt as if there would be a lot of action on the local level to implement what we discussed.

“Unfortunately, I am dissatisfied with the level of things and think we could have done a lot more,” DeWeever said, suggesting that life for black women since the marches has been “a mixed bag of challenges and victories.”

The mixed bag Jones-DeWeever speaks of includes the bright spots -- educational attainment and job earnings that have greatly surpassed those of our foremothers -- as well as the pitfalls -- increasing incarceration rates and health concerns that are killing us emotionally and physically.

“We are making some moves in the right direction, but we still make up a disproportionate amount of those who are poor,” Jones-DeWeever said.

“This past year, it made headlines that black women had eclipsed black men in earnings and white women. But, black women simply work more hours than any other racial group in the country,” she added. “We can definitely show that we’re working very hard and doing the best that we can for ourselves and our families, but in other areas, we definitely need some help.”

Michelle Ebanks, president of Essence magazine, said progress for black women isn’t always linear. But a recent report, Window on Women, conducted by the preeminent publication for black women, shows that sisters wield strength and buying power that make them a force to be reckoned with.

“You’ll find that for every two steps forward, there’s one step back, but if you look at the arc of African-American women, I can say that the forward momentum is ever present,” Ebanks told BlackAmericaWeb.com.

According to the WOW report, black women today contribute 53 percent of all earned income in black households, compared to 28 percent for white women. While black women have always been the foundation of black families, they now have the financial backing that they’ve longed fought for.

“She has a much more dominant position in terms of being an earner, a nurturer and an activist,” Ebanks said of the black woman in the decade following the Million Man March. “She is stronger than she has ever been, and I think she’s never had a brighter horizon.”

That may be so for the black woman who’s leading a healthy and prosperous life, but over the last decade, black women have been in a battle with the justice system, as well as diseases like HIV.

A 2003 New York City Council report on incarcerated women of color in New York showed that 85 percent of all female arrests in 2000 were black or Latino. A further distressing fact was that black women’s arrest rates were the only rates that have increased for either males or females since 1995.

But statistics like those don’t really paint the proper picture for black women and crime, Jones-DeWeever said.

“Frankly this is not an indicator that black women are more criminal, in light of what [former Secretary of Education] Bill Bennett would probably think,” Jones-DeWeever said. “It’s a reflection of how our criminal justice system polices the population. We tend to enforce laws in areas that are heavily populated by blacks.”

Jane Smith, director of Spelman College’s Center for Leadership & Civic Engagement, agreed that, just as the numbers of black women pursuing higher education exceeds those of black men, so does the rate of black women finding themselves in prison.

“It’s almost like we’re saying, ‘If the brothers can do it, we can do it, too,” Smith, a noted expert on women’s issues, told BlackAmericaWeb.com. “I do understand that there are some difficulties of the system, but while I point out the inadequacies of the system, I have to take some time to look at what it is that we have done as a people to position ourselves to fall into the potholes.”

Many of the ills befalling black women can be attributed to criminal activity, but the spread of HIV and AIDS amongst black women is the primary social problem that women participating in the Million Woman March sought to combat then and something people hope will be addressed when people converge on Washington for the Millions More Movement this Saturday.

“There’s been a huge increase of black women infected with HIV and AIDS,” Jones-DeWeever said, pointing out that black women now make up roughly 70 percent of all new HIV diagnoses. “It’s a really scary and distressing point.”

“People are still kind of assuming that AIDS is a white, gay male disease. We need to make sure that AIDS is known to be reflective of them and not rely on old stereotypes,” Jones-DeWeever said, adding that she hopes some results of the upcoming march include applying pressure on politicians to provide more funding for HIV and AIDS prevention and treatment and raising awareness throughout the community.

Greater awareness on a variety of issues -- ranging from minimizing the spread of sexually-transmitted diseases to increasing the voting power of black women -- can be more effective with more women, especially younger black women, taking the initiative to be leaders. But it’s no secret that, in 2005, there are more Jane Does than Dorothy Heights, Shirley Chisholms and Barbara Jordans.

“There are very few first doors to go through any more and very few organizations to create,” Smith said, adding that accomplished black women like Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin and Spelman president Beverly Tatum are examples of sisters who have the ability to lead by example just as Height did during the civil rights movement.

But, Smith said, this weekend’s march should address how leaders of tomorrow will be groomed for success.

“We have not mastered succession planning as of yet,” Smith said, noting that she can see potential black women leaders everyday she strolls the campus of Spelman.

“You have a pipeline of people who are already leaders,” Smith said, “it’s just that the times do not require that they be in a public position to be well known. But the talent is there.”

And with that talent must come vision, Ebanks said, adding that black women have to be prepared to speak out against injustices that plague the black community.

“Hurricane Katrina only underscores the importance of us collectively moving ahead and not leaving less fortunate people behind,” Ebanks said.

“The best is yet to come, and there is no question about that,” Ebanks said, suggesting that the pride and accomplishments of black women will indeed make them accept the role as their brothers' and sisters’ keeper.

“We are just hitting our stride,” Ebanks said. “There is really a collective momentum.”