Malik Sekou was born on January 8, 1964, on Saint Thomas, United States Virgin Islands, to Wally and Margaret Whitehead. He has one older brother, Tony Wally Whitehead, and three younger siblings, Sylvia, Kankan and Marvin. Malik and his older brother were raised in foster care in Saint Thomas by Guillermo and Rosita Cyntje. His three younger siblings were raised in Brooklyn, New York. Sekou attended Kirwan Terrace Elementary School and Wayne Aspinall Junior High, which is now called Addelitta Cancryn Junior High School. He graduated from Charlotte Amalie High School in Charlotte Amalie in 1981.
