Isaac Amend
Staff Columnist
Author Archive
AMEND: The Assad disconnect

If Syria teaches us anything, it is that reactive movements must materialize before harmful — and potentially fatal — decisions do

AMEND: Pondering the F-word

If we want to empower fierce women in professional arenas and beyond, we can start now by respecting their desires and their status as moral equals. A culture of equality will not spring into being on its own. It takes practice.

AMEND: Three proposals

Leading a transgender life in the 21st century is uncomfortably novel and difficult beyond belief. So when we ask for IDs and comfortable housing and bathrooms, we’re asking for more than just plastic cards and appropriate toilets. We’re asking for due respect and compassion.

AMEND: Toni’s magic

After seeing Toni Morrison handle topics both light and serious, from sex to racially charged police brutality, I realized that her literature has two profound implications for intellectual culture at Yale.

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AMEND: The Skittles club

In December 2013, Beyonce saved Yalies from finals-period monotony by dropping a fifth album in music video form. Its fourth track, “Blow,” showcases Queen B […]

AMEND: XXIII-III-MMXVI

My grandpa died unexpectedly over spring break in Seattle. I was the only family member to witness his last labored breath, a piercingly soulful event. The night before his stroke we stayed up late drinking liquor. He warned me over Jack Daniels that aspiring novelists have trouble filling their pockets; I stated over Bombay Gin that my pockets were already relatively secure thanks to his success. I also attempted to tell him that I had felt like a man since puberty, but that latter exchange never materialized. I wish it had — Grandpa was a socially liberal Republican who wouldn’t have given a damn.

AMEND: The Literati

Thoughtfully plowing through a barrage of words that come together in a profound twist of literary fate trumps writing a monotonous reading response on Microsoft Word any day.

AMEND: A mental health challenge

In January last year, the Yale community mourned the loss of Luchang Wang ’17.

AMEND: The Middle Way

Since that fateful day stamped in spiritual history, the Buddha’s teachings have endured over generations.

AMEND: Wasta transgenderism

In Arabic there’s a word with no English counterpart; it’s pronounced wasta, which means the power one gains from making connections.

AMEND: Lessons from Paris

A little over two weeks have passed since three dark-clad men entered the popular Bataclan Theater in Paris’ 11th arrondissement and opened gunfire from AK-47 assault […]

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