Malik Nkrumah Davis was larger than life in all possible ways. He was often heard before he was seen, with his booming voice calling out a greeting or his laughter echoing around the room and, standing tall in both height and character, he made those around him feel cared for and protected. But he was most known for his passion and outsized love which encompassed all of those he cared about, fueled his pursuit of social justice and drove his well-known fervor for his beloved University of Washington Huskies. Nothing was greater than his endless love for “his girls” — his beautiful wife, Colleen, and his adored daughters, Waverly (15) and Quincy (13), who were the center of his world.

The profound impact of his life is matched only by the pain of his passing, since he died Feb. 21, suddenly and unexpectedly of a heart attack at home.

Malik was born to Alice Davis and Waverly Davis on Dec. 2, 1970 in Seattle. He graduated from Garfield High School (‘88) and then earned a degree in Political Science from the University of Washington (’94). He went on to earn a master’s degree in Public Administration from the New School, located in New York City. 

His mother, Alice, inspired his passion for social activism and he spent his life committed to helping others and actively working for change and finding solutions to the problems he saw, whether that was through his work in politics, at non-profits or marching for justice.

At the time of his passing, he was a Legislative Aide for Seattle Councilmember Alex Pedersen and previously worked at Mary’s Place as the Associate Director; at the University of Washington as Director of Constituent Relations, UW Alumni Association, and later as a Major Gifts Officer at the College of Arts and Science. He also previously was a client relationship specialist for Charter Construction and held several roles for the City of Seattle. 

Malik was a proud and active member of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity as well as The Breakfast Group, a Seattle-based non-profit focused on addressing the challenges of at-risk youth of color. He was a frequent mentor to high school and college students, in addition to being an active volunteer in his community and at his children’s schools. 

Malik will be remembered for his gregarious personality and fierce advocacy for people and the causes he held dear. He had a consummate ability to make every person around him feel as though they were the most important in the room. He was always up for whatever his family wanted to do, whether it was dressing up in their tradition of themed Halloween costumes, sharing a passion for all things Marvel with his daughter Quincy, being his daughter Waverly’s biggest fan at her sports events, or going on myriad trips, including a pandemic vacation in an RV, a visit to New York, Hawaii and a recent trip to Disneyland. For his 50th birthday, he and Colleen took a cross-country train trip, in honor of his passion for trains. Malik adored Luther, their chocolate Labrador and the newest addition to the Davis family, Otis, their French bulldog.

Malik was loved beyond words and returned that love so powerfully that it will wrap around his family for the rest of their lives and will ripple across time for generations to come.

In addition to his wife, daughters and mother, he is survived by his brother Kalauu Davis, of Seattle; brother Karim Davis, niece Kaleilah Davis and stepmother Sheila Davis, all of Tigard, Oregon; a large and loving extended family and enough friends to fill a stadium. Malik was preceded in death by his father.

The Davis Family is proud to share that leaders from the City of Seattle will be proclaiming this December 2nd, Malik’s birthday, as “Malik Davis Day”.