Editor’s Note: This article was adapted from a talk by Prof. Karim-Aly Kassam, natural resources and the environment and indigenous studies, at the Area Studies Roundtable of the Einaudi Center on Wednesday, Jan. 29.

Last week was breathtaking. On Monday, Jan. 27, $1 trillion was shaved off the stock market in a single day. By Thursday, Jan. 30, Federal Law Enforcement was in the Ithaca Commons, raising real concerns among young scholars (including Native American Students) because of their complexion, that they would be profiled and questioned. Furthermore, these law enforcement actions have an impact on international students because of the President’s executive orders, especially if they were involved in activism. One is left breathless not because of a sense of awe but because of being a witness to sheer callousness and unrestrained inhumanity in the most powerful democracy on the planet.

Our colleagues in astronomy inform us that a star like the sun, as it approaches its death, begins to supernova. It becomes larger and larger while it uses up all its energy as it burns life in its explosive wake. Then after some time, having been spent, it collapses. The current moment in our history can be likened to a supernova. To be sure, this political process has also been aided by forces on the other side who claim the moral high ground, but their protestations are a façade. Both sides are objective allies and need each other to justify........

© Cornell Daily Sun