Based between traditional lands of the Tutelo-Saponi speaking peoples and lands of the Lenape peoples, Makini is a choreographer, performer, and video artist who grew up dancing around the living room and at parties with siblings and cousins. Makini's early exposure to concert dance was through African dance and capoeira performances on California college campuses where Makini's Pan-Africanist parents studied and worked, but “formal” dance training began in college with Umfundalai, Kariamu Welsh’s contemporary African dance technique. 

Makini's work continues to be influenced by various sources, including those foundations in living rooms and parties, early technical training in contemporary African dance, continued study of contemporary Africanist dance and performance, movement trainings with Irene Dowd around anatomy and proprioception, sociological research of and technical training in J-sette performance with Jermone Donte Beacham, and world-building ideations with Anderson Feliciano and Nefertiti Charlene Altán through the TERRESTRIAL projects. Through artistic work, Makini strives to engage in and further dialogues with Black queer folks, create lovingly agitating performance work that recognizes history as only one option for the contextualization of the present, and continue to encourage artists to understand themselves as part of a larger community of workers who are imagining pathways toward economic ecosystems that prioritize care, interdependence, and delight.