Even though it’s the inaugural “If You Only Read One Thing Today…” (IYOROTT) post, we’re already going to break our own rules — rather than “one thing,” today we’ll bring you many.

Below are links to a sampling of the wonderful local media coverage of the Regional Equity ‘08 National Summit in New Orleans this past week. If you didn’t get to join us, these dispatches will give you a flavor of this phenomenal event. If you did join us, you can relive some of the highlights. Please check these out:

• “Survivors have red-carpet day: Activists at summit cheer Katrina documentary stars,” The Times-Picayune
• “Obama, Clinton and the Black-Brown Divide,” Salon.com
• “Statistics Show Poor not Returning to N.O.,” CBS4
• “Danny Glover leads discussion on poverty, Katrina,” Associated Press
• “Protestors rally for Public Housing,” NBC6
• “Housing Survey Show Public Housing Residents Don’t Want to Return,” ABC26
• “National Summit on Poverty and Equity Coming to New Orleans,” Louisiana Weekly
• “Angela Glover Blackwell: PolicyLink’s Driving Force!,” New Orleans Tribune

A crowd of more than 1,000 packed the Grand Ballroom at the Regional Equity ‘o8 Summit Thursday to see clips of “Trouble the Water,” a powerful new documentary about post-Katrina life in New Orleans.

Executive producer Danny Glover joined with the film’s directors, Carl Deal and Tia Lessin, and the film’s subjects, Kimberly and Scott Roberts for a passionate and inspiring discussion about the film and the issues of equity and equality is raises.

The documentary follows Kim and Scott for more than a year as they face the storm (via gripping hand-held camera work as they were still trapped in their home by floodwaters) and try to recover and start a family. Critics are already raving about the film, including awarding it the Grand Jury prize for best documentary at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

As Glover pointed out, though, the Roberts’ story is not just an tale isolated to post-storm New Orleans. It reflects the inequity and injustice we see all over the country.

“In Detroit, Chicago, New York, communities have been left behind,” Glover said. “This is an epidemic.”

Lessin said she hopes the film can serve as a catalyst for equitable change across the country, as activists, advocates, policymakers and people from the faith community come together to watch the real life struggles of Kim and Scott and strategize ways to create more and better opportunities for all people.

To find out more about the film, please visit the film’s homepage, www.TroubleTheWaterFilm.com.

Producers are eying a late summer or early fall theatrical release.

For more information about what PolicyLink is doing to help Louisiana recover more equitably and how you can help, please check out www.PolicyLink.org/Communities/Louisiana.

Welcome to EquityBlog, a project of PolicyLink to help nurture and inspire the nation’s equity movement. The strong and growing equity community is united in bringing greater opportunity to all Americans, especially those from low-income communities and communities of color.

We hope EquityBlog will serve as a launching pad for penetrating insight, enthusiastic discussion and cutting-edge ideas. By focusing on creating healthy, stable and equitable communities for all Americans, we want EquityBlog to be a place of both passion and practice – where smart ideas meet effective advocacy.

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• “If You Only Read One Thing Today…” – A daily post featuring what we think is that day’s most indispensable article on equity
• Research Highlights – The best and most innovative new research from throughout the equity community
• Thoughtful Commentary — Reflections on some of the day’s top news and how it impacts all of our work
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• State and Local Successes – Tremendous progress toward equity is being made every day in state capitals, local city council rooms and on the ground. EquityBlog will highlight some of the most interesting and innovative public policy success stories.
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