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Celebrating the Launch of The People’s Detective at Red Bay Coffee Headquarters & Café

  • Nov 5, 2024
  • 2 min read
The book The People’s Detective in the Red Bay Coffee

On Saturday, September 21, Red Bay Coffee Headquarters & Café in Oakland became the vibrant hub for the long-awaited launch of The People’s Detective by Dr. Nicholas Baham III. This unforgettable event, welcomed an enthusiastic crowd to celebrate a novel that dives deep into Oakland’s heart, blending rich storytelling with pressing social issues.


A Perfect Venue for a Thought-Provoking Novel


Set in the charming Red Bay Coffee HQ, the event began with an hour of mingling from 2:00 to 3:00 PM, where guests enjoyed fresh brews while connecting with other book lovers. DJ AstatuZ curated an upbeat soundtrack that filled the space with energy and set the stage for the exciting afternoon ahead.


Reading, Q&A, and Insight from Dr. Nicholas Baham

Carol Denise Mitchell asking questions to Dr. Baham

At 3:00 PM, the spotlight turned to Dr. Baham, a Professor of Ethnic Studies at California State University, East Bay, and an internationally respected scholar in Black Studies. Dr. Baham introduced The People’s Detective, his debut in a series that examines the hidden struggles and triumphs within Oakland’s Black community. From unreported stories of young women impacted by sex trafficking to gentrification and corporate corruption, Dr. Baham’s narrative sheds light on essential yet often overlooked issues.

Reading from his novel, Dr. Baham transported the audience into the gritty yet resilient world of his detective protagonist. As each line unfolded, the audience could feel the passion and authenticity in Dr. Baham’s words, capturing both the beauty and the struggles of Oakland.


Following the reading, the Q&A session offered fans a rare opportunity to delve into Dr. Baham’s inspirations and experiences that shaped The People’s Detective. He discussed how his work as a professor, writer, and media figure informs his fiction and how he hopes to amplify Oakland’s untold stories, fostering a deeper understanding of the city’s rich history and current challenges.


Special Guests: Carol Denise Mitchell and Damien Hunter


Award-winning authors Carol Denise Mitchell and Damien Hunter joined the celebration as special guests, sharing their perspectives on the importance of representation in literature. They inspired everyone with their journeys and reiterated the impact of using one’s voice to foster awareness and social change — a mission shared by Dr. Baham and Bootstrap Publications.


Dr. Baham’s Vision for the People’s Detective Series

Dr. Baham’s telling his audience about his visions of The People's Detective

Dr. Baham’s vision extends beyond The People’s Detective as he plans to explore new themes in forthcoming books, addressing pressing issues such as homelessness and crime in the post-COVID era. His work is a powerful fusion of fact and fiction, a tribute to Oakland’s resilience, and a call for awareness and action.




Couldn’t Make It? Join the Story!

For those who couldn’t attend, you can still join Dr. Baham on this journey through the city he holds dear. The People’s Detective is available now, offering readers a compelling exploration of Oakland’s unfiltered stories and the nuanced dynamics within the Black community.


📖 Order Your Copy Here: The People’s Detective

Established Educational Author in Bay Area CA Now Focusing on Noir Mystery and Detective Fiction Series

  • Sep 5, 2024
  • 2 min read

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


Oakland, CA - The People’s Detective, the highly anticipated first installment in the Sonny Trueheart Mystery series by Dr. Nicholas Louis Baham III, will launch at Red Bay Coffee Headquarters & Cafe on Saturday, September 21, 2024, 3136 International Blvd, Oakland, CA 94601 at 2:00 PM PT.

Dr. Baham, a Professor of Ethnic Studies at California State University, East Bay, is bringing his extensive knowledge and passion for social justice to the forefront with this compelling narrative. The People’s Detective sheds light on the often overlooked issue of sex trafficking in the Bay Area, blending a distinctly Oakland aesthetic with the thrill of the noir detective genre.


Advanced praise for The People’s Detective:

“This novel moves like a freight train through a tunnel.” Kwei Quartey, LA Times bestseller list and award winning author


“Superb…a masterful tale of a gritty urban reality that has all too often gone ignored.” Damien Hunter, award winning Author of The Madrinega Missiles


“This book is not just a thrilling read, but a powerful testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the fight for justice in the face of overwhelming odds.” – Nolan Higdon, University of California, Santa Cruz


Special guests from the broader San Francisco Bay Area community are expected to attend to celebrate this milestone. The event is free to the public. It will be an afternoon of coffee, music, and a deep dive into the underbelly of Oakland’s criminal world through the eyes of former homicide detective Sonny Trueheart. The event will feature a reading from the book, an engaging Q&A session with Dr. Baham, and a book signing. 


The People’s Detective introduces readers to Sonny Trueheart, a former Oakland Police Department detective turned whistleblower, as he navigates a dangerous conspiracy involving organized crime, corrupt police, and powerful elites. With a story that’s both a gripping thriller and a poignant social commentary, this novel is set to become a cornerstone of contemporary Black detective fiction.


Dr. Baham’s work is an ode to Oakland, blending elements of martial arts, social activism, and a deep love for the city’s history and people. This launch event promises to be a must-attend for fans of detective fiction, social justice, and Oakland culture.



Stay connected with Dr. Baham:



For Media Inquiries, Contact:info@bootstrappublications.com

THE PEOPLE'S DETECTIVE PLAYLIST

  • Oct 24, 2023
  • 4 min read


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 is a picture of me and a custom made Les Paul guitar (named "Angela" for my wife) by a close friend, colleague, former bandmate, and local luthier. I grew up in a musical household. My father was a classically trained clarinetist who played jazz records for me the minute I was brought home from San Francisco Children's Hospital and who taught me how to listen and what to listen for in jazz. I started playing classical guitar at 8 and then switched to jazz, blues, and rock by the age of 13. I've played a lot over the past two decades for a now defunct local blues band called Root Down and for the St. John Will-I-Am Coltrane band, Ohnedaruth, including a memorable performance in Paris at Cite de la Musique. I am currently building a soul/funk project called The Dred Scot Decision. I am also married to a conservatory trained opera singer!


Given my musical background, I wrote The People’s Detective with an eye towards how the story and the landscape of Oakland, California might translate to the big screen. Foremost in this process were my considerations of a soundtrack for the novel. Every chapter was written with one or two songs that represented the main themes, characters, and action. Often I began with a song that I knew captured the mood and tone of what I wanted to write. I listened repeatedly, as jazz giant John Coltrane recommended, and, after my meditation, the words began to unfold.


You can listen to The People’s Detective: A Sonny Trueheart Mystery Playlist on Apple music



Play each of the selections either before, during, or immediately after reading the chapter. I trust that you will have a greater sense of my inspiration –my strange and wicked sense of humor, and my depth of my love for this story and these characters– as the story unfolds, and that the playlist will provide a

complete experience through the union of words and sound.


James Baldwin once said that he wanted to write the way that Aretha Franklin sang. Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man begins with his unnamed character smoking reefer and listening to the great Louis Armstrong sing "Why Am I So Black and Blue?" The great playwright August Wilson, wrote dialogue that came straight from his keen listening of the blues tradition. As you go through this extensive playlist, you will notice an eclectic mix of voices including Jimi Hendrix, Lauryn Hill, Ritchie Havens, The Isley Brothers, Ben Harper, Grace Jones, Bob Marley, India Arie, Funkadelic, Jorja Smith, and Marvin Gaye. I want you to feel Sonny riding down the pothole laden streets of Oakland on his Harley-Davidson Fatboy motorcycle when you read and listen to Anthony Hamilton's "Comin' From Where I'm From" and I want you to experience the intensity and desperation of Aurora Jenkins' escape attempt when you read and listen to Ritchie Havens' "Follow the Drinking Gourd." The music for each chapter really helped to link me to the emotions that I wanted to convey for the action and dialogue that I wrote for The People's Detective. And, if you want to feel more of the spirit that I was feeling when I created these characters and scenes, we have the aid of digital music, something that Baldwin, Ellison, Wilson and so many others would likely have used.


Enjoy!!!

Nicholas Louis Baham III


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;” and

Iggy 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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