Our beloved Malik Jibril Alim, loving son, committed father and powerful revolutionary, completed his time among us, returned to Allah, The Most High, and joined the ancestors on Friday, August 20, 2021 in the prime of his life at the age of 28.

Born on December 13, 1992, in Harvey, IL to Troy and Jeneen Alim, who wrapped their children in love and embedded in them a sense of family, justice, education, and faith. Malik relished in his role as one of the “Alim Kids” and was the glue of his sibling group. It didn’t take much convincing for him to do whatever his little sister wanted or needed from him.

From an early age, Malik’s outgoing and magnetic personality and endearing leadership style motivated people to want to be around him while his sharp intellect and athletic prowess helped him excel in a variety of sports including track, basketball, football, where he played quarterback on his youth teams, and especially baseball in which he played nearly every position and advanced to compete at the collegiate level. Malik was often chosen as team captain on his teams regardless of the sport.

Malik’s mother was his first teacher, homeschooling him through completion of the sixth grade. His academic and enrichment activities included being elected student government treasurer, Scholastic Bowl, the Museum Tech Academy at the Illinois State Museum/ American Center for Archeology, a number of programs at Northwestern University’s Center for Talent Development, which included an onsite public policy immersion into the underpinnings of public education disparities in New York City and the world, and numerous other programs to enhance his education. Malik’s passion for service developed early, which he fulfilled by volunteering at the Mary Bryant Home for the Blind, the Special Olympics, Habitat for Humanity, and multiple other organizations. This inclination to be of service to others and rehabilitate the world we live in was unwavering even through the occupations he fulfilled in his young adulthood.

After the sixth grade, Malik enrolled at Springfield Ball Charter School and later attended the Illinois Math and Science Academy, prior to graduating from Springfield High School. Upon graduation, Malik embarked on a post-high school “gap year” as an AmeriCorps City Year member. This was the completion of Malik’s progression from suburbanite to downstater to urbanite, which solidified his love for all the layers and nuances associated with being a Chicagoan and a deeply rooted passion for the South Side and his beloved White Sox. He quickly began to thrive in this new environment, finding both an inspiration to write his own music and a personal passion for amplifying the stories and voices of others. He then attended the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, where he began to further develop his talent for storytelling at radio station WIIT 88.9 FM.

Malik was a goofy, sensitive, and deeply empathetic young person whose academic brilliance was held in balance with his magnetic personality. Malik made genuine connections to each new person he met with his incredible ability to be deeply present. His unique talent for holding a myriad of strong relationships was the foundation for his life’s work of building a more just and loving world.

At the time of his passing, Malik was the Campaign Coordinator for Chicago Community Bond Fund’s Coalition to End Money Bond. Malik’s visionary and uncompromising organizing made groundbreaking historic transformations to mitigate the harm of the state’s systems of incarceration. He spearheaded the passage of the Pre-Trial Fairness Act on January 13, 2021, making Illinois the first state in the nation to abolish the use of cash bail.

Malik was recently appointed as the President of the Chicago Votes Action Fund, a youth development and civic education organization engaging a new generation of leaders. He was collaborating with Circles and Ciphers as a mentor and producer to create a youth podcast from the Final 5 campaign tentatively titled Free the Youth, aimed at closing Illinois’ youth prisons. Over the last year, Malik teamed up with Bill Ayers to create the podcast Under the Tree: a Seminar on Freedom, one of his proudest creations. He was the creator and producer of The ReUp w/ Malik Alim, his first original podcast which explored a diverse range of artistic and cultural topics. The ReUp emphasized the experiences of Black and Brown people, and was fittingly situated in the historic Bronzeville community and broadcast from the WIIT radio station. By opening up this space to a variety of community leaders and creatives, he established a platform that fostered discovery and collaboration, while empowering many to share their stories with a genuine candor that came naturally to him. This exposure propelled him to be awarded a coveted fellowship from City Bureau, a non-profit organization providing intensive training opportunities for journalists who want to grow their reporting, engagement, and leadership skills.

Malik was a co-director of the #LetUsBreathe Collective, an alliance of artists and activists organizing through a creative lens to imagine a world without prisons and police. He helped rehab and steward the Collective’s Breathing Room space, an arts, healing, and organizing hub on Chicago’s South Side. Malik co-directed the Collective’s Wellness & Protection efforts, and coined the phrase “WellPro” - systems of care designed to force systems of punishment and policing into obsolescence.

It was through his love of community that Malik met the mothers of his children and together created two remarkably beautiful lives. Out of his service to BYP100 as membership co-chair, his bond with Johnaé Strong was formed and from their love, his daughter Jari Sanaa Alim was born. Jari inherited her dad’s love for music, passion for food, and the ability to make anyone smile. Out of his service to #LetUsBreathe, his love for Kristiana Rae Colón commenced, and their devotion birthed Orí Tarik Alim Colón. Orí personifies his dad’s adventurous nature, silly spirit, and endless curiosity.
Malik was a tremendous partner to both mothers through their natural home births, and caught each of his children in their birthing pools.

Malik and Kristiana’s story is rooted in co-creating a new world for their children. Malik partnered with Kristiana on plays, television series, event production, and the creation of the Black Abolitionist Net- work and campaign to Defund CPD. They were all mutually committed to a life of joy, adventure, and travel for Jari and Orí, and worked hard to develop radical and liberatory approaches to parenting.

Malik joins his ancestors and grandfathers, Joseph and Laurence. His love continues to shine through his parents Troy and Jeneen, his children Jari and Orí, his sister Jinnah and brothers Troy (Whitney) and Rafi, his partner Kristiana, his co-parent Johnaé, his grandmothers LaVerne and Jacquelyn, several aunts, uncles, cousins, and a wide tapestry of community and comrades. All whose lives he touched will continue to multiply his love forever.