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THE PEOPLE'S DETECTIVE PLAYLIST
In addition to my career as a Professor of Ethnic Studies and my passion for writing detective fiction, I am also a guitar player. Above...
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NICHOLAS LOUIS BAHAM III
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The People's Detective
When investigative journalist and Black Lives Matter activist Aurora Jenkins gets to close too the truth about sex trafficking and the unsolved disappearances of young Black, Latina, Asian American, and Indigenous women from the streets of Oakland, California, a powerful alliance of organized crime, corrupt police, and elites kidnap her and seek to suppress her story. Sonny Trueheart, a former Oakland Police Department homicide detective and whistleblower, burdened by alcoholism and the ghosts of his past, is called to investigate Aurora’s kidnapping and the facts behind her story. Together with his former martial arts teacher, a Bahamian human rights advocate, and an old friend with a propensity for gratuitous sex and violence, Sonny uncovers a vast criminal conspiracy. Armed with little more than his intuition, a snub nose revolver, and a willingness to break the law in order to bring justice, Sonny Trueheart emerges as a symbol of revolutionary awakening in the Black communities of Oakland, California.
The People’s Detective brings to light the under-reported stories of sex trafficking in the Bay Area and adds a distinctly Oakland aesthetic, martial arts mayhem, and the thrill of a bank heist to the ethos of the noir detective genre. It is the first installment in the Sonny Trueheart Mystery series.
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Listen to The People’s Detective Spotify and Apple Music Playlist
Immerse in The People’s Detective journey with our Spotify and Apple Music playlist. Designed for each chapter, it enhances the storytelling experience, reflecting humor and love in the story. Dive into this harmonious blend of words and sound for a unique literary experience.
1. The End of Misogynoir
Ben Harper - “The Will to Live”
2. The People’s Detective
Anthony Hamilton - “Comin’ From I’m From”
3. Cargo
The Specials – “Gangsters”
4. Traffick
Steel Pulse - “Human Trafficking”
5. Ghost in the Machine
The Police – “Spirits in the Material World”
6. The Segregated Illuminati
Makaveli / Tupac Shakur – “White Man’z World”
7. The Onanist
Chuck Berry - “My Ding-a-Ling
8. Backstabbers
The O’Jays – “Backstabbers”
9. Aaminha
India Arie – “Video”
10. Captivity
Bob Marley - “Soul Captives”
11. Trouble Man
Marvin Gaye - “Trouble Man”
12. Old Man Kaz
Robert Cray - “I’m A Good Man”
13. The Young Detective
Steely Dan – “With a Gun”
14. The Arrangement
Too $hort – “Blow the Whistle”
15. Brother Malik
Prince – “Gigolos Get Lonely Too”
16. Afro Samurai
Joe James - “Afro Samurai”
17. Trans Lives Matter
Jorja Smith - “Bussdown”
18. Oaksterdam
Funkadelic - “Maggot Brain”
19. Blues and Bruise
Amy Winehouse - “You Know That I’m No Good”
20. Raising the Dead
Bhi Bhiman - “Guttersnipe”
22. Sexual Healing
Marvin Gaye “Sexual Healing”
23. Journalist, Councilman, and Traitor
The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy -“Music and Politics”
24. The Mistress and the Benefactress
The Ohio Players – “Fire”
25. Escape
Ritchie Havens - “Follow the Drinkin’ Gourd”
26. Straighten Up and Fly Right
Nat King Cole - “Straighten Up and Fly Right”
27. The Bardo
Isley Brothers – “Footsteps in the Dark”
28. The Kingston 11
Bob Marley & The Wailers – Burnin’ and Lootin’
29. Hunger Strike
The Temptations – “Message from a Black Man”
30. Reconnaissance
O’Jays – “For the Love of Money”
31. Smoke and Mirrors
Jimi Hendrix – “Fire”
32. Acrophobia
A Tribe Called Quest – “Check the Rhime”
33. Game of Death
Carl Douglass - “Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting”
34. Recruited
Sade – “Feel No Pain”
35. Black is the Color
Nina Simone – “Black is the Color”
36. Heist
Celly Cel – “It’s Goin’ Down Tonight”
37. Slave to the Rhythm
Grace Jones – “Slave to the Rhythm;” andIggy and the Stooges - “Search and Destroy
38. Gimme the Goods
Boz Scaggs – “Gimme the Goods”
39. Fight
Erykah Badu - “Soldier”
40. Wretched of the Earth
Sade – “Soldier of Love”
41. Exposure
The Black Tones – “The End of Everything”
42. Do Not Go Gentle Into that Good Night
Jimi Hendrix - "1983 (A Merman I Should Turn To Be)"
43. Requiem for a Mistress
Velvet Underground – “Venus in Furs”
44. Do It Again
Steely Dan – “Do It Again”
45. I’m Your Momma, I’m Your Daddy
Curtis Mayfield – “Pusherman”
46. The Trickster
Bobby Womack – “Across 110th St.” Richie Rich - “Let’s Ride”
47. Did You Think I’d Forgotten
The Isley Brothers – “Fight the Power”
48. Epilogue: The People’s Detective (Slight Return)
Jimi Hendrix “Voodoo Chile” (Slight Return)
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ABOUT NICHOLASBAHAM III
ABOUT NICHOLAS LOUIS BAHAM III
Dr. Nicholas Louis Baham III, Ph.D. is a Professor of Ethnic Studies at California State University, East Bay and an internationally recognized scholar of Black Studies. He has appeared in such wide-ranging publications and media outlets as Esquire magazine; BBC world service documentary films; KPFA, KALW, and KPOO public radio; Austrian Public Radio; Canadian SexTV; Project Censored Radio; and BET.
The People’s Detective series is Dr. Baham’s ode to Oakland, California and is a fictional account of many of the issues that he teaches in the classroom and features on his podcasts and media appearances, including the unreported stories of the sex trafficking of young women of color in the Bay Area, class conflict within Black communities, gentrification, and corporate corruption. Forthcoming People’s Detective titles will deal with topics ranging from homelessness to crime in the post-COVID era. Dr. Baham lives in Oakland, California.
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Baham Bio
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