Malaika received her BFA (1971) and MFA (1973) in art from LSU Baton Rouge, LA. Her artwork is featured in: Art: African American by Samella Lewis, African American Art and Artist, also by Samella Lewis, Black Art in Louisiana by Bernardine B. Proctor and the St. James Guide to Black Artists, by Thomas Riggs. Her works are in the following collections: Absolut Vodka, Morris Museum of Art, Augusta GA; Alexandria Museum of Art, Alexandria LA.; The Coca Cola Company, Atlanta GA.; Hartsfield Jackson International Airport, Atlanta GA, and The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, Cincinnati, Ohio. She has two commissioned outdoor murals in Atlanta GA, one on Auburn Ave. (2007), and another on White Street (2009).
Malaika is also a poet, her publications include: DREAMING AT THE MANOR, Finishing Line Press 2014, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT, published by New Orleans Poetry Journal Press, 1991. Malaika won the 2015 Broadside Lotus Press Naomi Long Madgett Poetry Award for her collection of poems, ASCENSION 2016. Her poetry, fiction, and articles have appeared in numerous anthologies and journals.