Nicholas L. Baham III

Dr. Baham is a Professor of Ethnic Studies at California State University East Bay where he teaches Black Studies and Genders and Sexualities in Communities of Color. His academic work involves Jazz Studies, Afrofuturism, and Critical Media Literacy. He is the author of The Coltrane Church: Apostles of Sound, Agents of Social Justice; The Podcaster’s Dilemma: Decolonizing Podcasters in the Era of Surveillance Capitalism; and the forthcoming Love, Knowledge, Revolution: A Comparative Ethnic Studies Reader.

Dr. Baham is also a mystery and detective fiction novelist. His debut novel, The People’s Detective, is centered in Oakland, California and deals with the human rights issue of sex trafficking and the disappearances of young women of color. Dr. Bahams Sonny Trueheart mystery series deals with many of the social and political issues that he teaches in the classroom including homelessness, corrupt politics and policing, and the political manipulation of the post COVID crime wave. His novels seek to capture the beauty and unrest of the great city of Oakland, California.