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Book Review- “Breakthrough!”

Published

10 years ago

January 19, 2016

Oakland Post

Way to go!

Nothing beats recognition when you’ve finished a project. Good job! Well done! Hearing those things is pretty awesome.

But imagine working silently for years of your life while saving lives, and almost nobody notices.

In the new book “Breakthrough!” by Jim Murphy, you’ll read about one man’s accomplishment and how it went nearly ignored for decades.

At just about eight pounds, 18-month-old Eileen Saxon was obviously small for her age, and she was weak.

Doctors couldn’t agree on whether she could survive surgery or not, but they did agree on one thing: she would die without it.

It was late November 1944, and Dr. Alfred Blalock was standing in a surgical room, in front of Eileen’s little body. Behind him was his assistant, Vivien Thomas, an African American man who’d perfected the procedure that was to be performed.

They were about to make history.

Fourteen years before that night, 31-one-year-old physician and researcher Blalock, a white man born of privilege, was looking for an assistant in his Baltimore laboratory.

A carpenter by trade, Thomas had grown up in an industrious family that put an emphasis on education; he’d been saving his money to go to medical school when the Great Depression erased it.

His curiosity appealed to Blalock, who hired the African American man for $12 a week.

Despite racial differences and an initially rocky working relationship, the two men eventually got along fine and everything might’ve continued as it was – until Dr. Helen B. Taussig came along.

Taussig was an anomaly: she was female, at a time when few doctors were; she was also dyslexic and had a hearing disability, but she was laser-focused on treating babies born with heart defects.

She knew there had to be a cure – so she took her ideas to Blalock, who instructed his assistant to start researching.

And he did: it was Vivien Thomas who discovered how to save the lives of those babies and children. It was Thomas, a “reserved and quiet man,” who engineered the tools to do it. And it was Thomas who was almost ignored by history.

Much as I loved it, I struggled with “Breakthrough!”

The peeks back at mid-century medicine are fascinating, but parents should be aware that there’s quite a bit of detail about animal research, which may greatly bother sensitive kids.

Author Jim Murphy is quick to offer humaneness, but I shuddered.

And yet, there are bigger things that kids will find disturbing. They’ll likely wonder how a brilliant African American man was passed over by fame, while his colleagues were lauded.

Murphy is quick to explain that, too; his thorough research is interesting and easy-to-grasp and I think readers will be happy to see a decent ending to this particular chapter of discrimination.

Though there are plenty of medical terms and advanced language in this book, I think kids as young as 13 should be able to handle it, especially if they’re science-minded.

Heed the cautions and, for them, “Breakthrough!” is the way to go.

“Breakthrough! How Three People Saved ‘Blue Babies’ and Changed Medicine Forever” by Jim Murphy, c.2015, Clarion Books, $18.99; 130 pages.

Oakland Post

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Oakland Housing and Community Development Department Awards $80.5 Million to Affordable Housing Developments

Published

6 months ago

June 17, 2025

Oakland Post

Special to The Post

The City of Oakland’s Housing and Community Development Department (Oakland HCD) announced its awardees for the 2024-2025 New Construction of Multifamily Affordable Housing Notice of Funding Availability (New Construction NOFA) today Five permanently affordable housing developments received awards out of 24 applications received by the Department, with award amounts ranging from $7 million to $28 million.

In a statement released on Jan. 16, Oakland’s HCD stated, “Five New Construction Multifamily Affordable Housing Development projects awarded a total of $80.5 million to develop 583 affordable rental homes throughout Oakland. Awardees will leverage the City’s investments to apply for funding from the state and private entities.”

In December, the office of Rebecca Kaplan, interim District 2 City Councilmember, worked with HCD to allocate an additional $10 Million from Measure U to the funding pool. The legislation also readopted various capital improvement projects including street paving and upgrades to public facilities.

The following Oakland affordable housing developments have been awarded in the current round:

Mandela Station Affordable

238 Affordable Units including 60 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $15 million + previously awarded $18 million
Developer: Mandela Station LP (Pacific West Communities, Inc. and Strategic Urban Development Alliance, LLC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 1451 7th St.

Liberation Park Residences

118 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $28 million
Developer: Eden Housing and Black Cultural Zone
City Council District: 6
Address: 7101 Foothill Blvd.

34th & San Pablo

59 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $7 million
Developer: 34SP Development LP (EBALDC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 3419-3431 San Pablo Ave.

The Eliza

96 Affordable Units including 20 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $20 million
Developer: Mercy Housing California
City Council District: 3
Address: 2125 Telegraph Ave.

3135 San Pablo

72 Affordable Units including 36 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $10.5 million
Developer: SAHA and St. Mary’s Center
City Council District: 3
Address: 3515 San Pablo Ave.

The source of this story is the media reltations office of District 2 City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan.

Oakland Post

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Activism

Oakland Housing and Community Development Department Awards $80.5 Million to Affordable Housing Developments

Published

11 months ago

January 30, 2025

Oakland Post

Rebecca Kaplan, interim District 2 city councilmember. File photo.

Special to The Post

The following Oakland affordable housing developments have been awarded in the current round:

Mandela Station Affordable

238 Affordable Units including 60 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $15 million + previously awarded $18 million
Developer: Mandela Station LP (Pacific West Communities, Inc. and Strategic Urban Development Alliance, LLC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 1451 7th St.

Liberation Park Residences

118 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $28 million
Developer: Eden Housing and Black Cultural Zone
City Council District: 6
Address: 7101 Foothill Blvd.

34th & San Pablo

59 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $7 million
Developer: 34SP Development LP (EBALDC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 3419-3431 San Pablo Ave.

The Eliza

96 Affordable Units, including 20 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $20 million
Developer: Mercy Housing California
City Council District: 3
Address: 2125 Telegraph Ave.

3135 San Pablo

72 Affordable Units including 36 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $10.5 million
Developer: SAHA and St. Mary’s Center
City Council District: 3
Address: 3515 San Pablo Ave.

The source of this story is media reltations office of District 2 City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Alameda County

Oakland Acquisition Company’s Acquisition of County’s Interest in Coliseum Property on the Verge of Completion

The Board of Supervisors is committed to closing the deal expeditiously, and County staff have worked tirelessly to move the deal forward on mutually agreeable terms. The parties are down to the final details and, with the cooperation of OAC and Coliseum Way Partners, LLC, the Board will take a public vote at an upcoming meeting to seal this transaction.

Published

12 months ago

January 11, 2025

Oakland Post

Alameda County Board of Supervisors Chairman David Haubert. Official photo.

Special to The Post

The County of Alameda announced this week that a deal allowing the Oakland Acquisition Company, LLC, (“OAC”) to acquire the County’s 50% undivided interest in the Oakland- Alameda County Coliseum complex is in the final stages of completion.

Oakland has already finalized a purchase and sale agreement with OAC for its interest in the property. OAC’s acquisition of the County’s property interest will achieve two longstanding goals of the County:

The Oakland-Alameda Coliseum complex will finally be under the control of a sole owner with capacity to make unilateral decisions regarding the property; and
The County will be out of the sports and entertainment business, free to focus and rededicate resources to its core safety net

In an October 2024 press release from the City of Oakland, the former Oakland mayor described the sale of its 50% interest in the property as an “historic achievement” stating that the transaction will “continue to pay dividends for generations to come.”

The Board of Supervisors is pleased to facilitate single-entity ownership of this property uniquely centered in a corridor of East Oakland that has amazing potential.

“The County is committed to bringing its negotiations with OAC to a close,” said Board President David Haubert.