Obituary of Malika Bey

Malika Bey was born on November 25, 1938, and transitioned peacefully on December 19, 2025.  Malika (Arlene Elizabeth Gibson) was born to Ruby Knowles and Arthur Gibson in Camden, New Jersey.  She attended Camden City Public & Catholic Schools and graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1957.  After high school, she traveled to her grandparents’ birthplace, Eleuthera, Bahamas, where she connected with her ancestry and strengthened her family’s connection to their roots.

She worked as an executive secretary at the Philadelphia Naval Yard, later at RCA, and as a real estate agent.  She founded NSI Non-Smoker’s International, educating youth and adults about the dangers of smoking, and collaborated with the American Cancer Society.  She later became a Holistic Health Practitioner and Independent Distributor for Nature Sunshine Products.

Malika enjoyed the arts, culture, music, interpretive dance, roller skating, modeling, reading, poetry, flower arranging, gardening, herbal medicine, holistic health, sewing, cooking, and shopping.  One of her favorite poems was “If” by Rudyard Kipling, and her favorite saying were “Espouse Love, Not Hate” and “Be King.”  She served on Camden City Council in the late 1970s and advocated in Washington, D.C. for school breakfast programs.  She lived a life of faith, service, and compassion.

Malika Bey is survived by her daughters, Darlema Bey and Akilyah Bey; her son, Terrence Crowder and Arthur Crowder (AnnaLuisa); five grandchildren, Tiffanie Williams, Nina Crowder, Asha Wright, Ariana Crowder, and Antonio Crowder; two great-grandchildren, Amya Williams and BJ Williams; her brother, Robert Gibson; sisters-in-law, Gloria Gibson and Maxine Gibson; first cousins, Anthony Archie, Gloria Frazier, Catherine Joy Jones, Jane Robinson, and Richard Robinson; nieces, Ruby Carter (Darrel), Nicole Carter, Gina Gibson, Angie Gibson, Candece Gibson, Magnolia Gibson, Dalina Gibson, and Mirabella Gibson; nephews, Robert Gibson, Gary Gibson, Bruno Gibson, Arthur Gibson Jr. (Viveca), Carl Gibson Sr., Isaiah Gibson, Carl Gibson Jr., Steven Gibson (Nubie), Bryce Gibson, Evan Gibson, and John Gibson; cherished friends, Shugariah Young, Marvel Dickerson, and Earlene King; and a host of other family and friends.