Our first story is not of the news today, but it is very much of this moment in history. #MeToo is challenging views of power that objectify and exploit women and the vulnerable. For many faith communities, it points to a need to look inward. 

Our next story hits on a similar theme: small efforts at awakening institutional change. In this case, a group asked a probing question. When the tech community looks at women and minorities, does it see opportunity or a quota? 

Call it the environmentalism paradox. As nations become wealthier, their negative impact on the environment increases, yet so does their capacity and desire to help. Ahead of Earth Day, it's a reminder that the health of the planet depends largely on how powerful we can make the second half of that equation.   

In Florida, beaches are a treasure, and that is what has made them such a flashpoint in a growing battle over what money can buy. 

Our last story today is a video about a South African woman who staff photographer Melanie Stetson Freeman calls “the most compassionate and loving mother I’ve met in all my years I’ve worked.” The Monitor has followed Olga Thimbela since 2007, when she took in six children from relatives who died of AIDS. On Monday, we’ll share the story of her daughter, who in many ways symbolizes the promise of the new South Africa, but also the pitfalls that remain. Here we trace our decade-long relationship with Olga – the challenges of moving beyond the legacy of AIDS, apartheid, and poverty, and the yearning of a mother’s love.