She received her BFA from California College of the Arts (1999) and her MFA from Massachusetts College of Art (2005), with additional studies at L’ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. Her work has been exhibited publicly since 1997 and is held in private collections throughout the US and in Paris, France. 

In addition to working as an artist, Malaika teaches painting and drawing. She has spent the past twenty years teaching students from teens to adults both privately and in an array of local institutions such as UCLA, Otis College of Art & Design, Ryman Arts and the L.A. County High School for the Arts, LACHSA, where she served as Chair of the Visual Arts program from 2013–2016.