Rubuta ci gaba don wannan sakin layi - Gration, wanda aka sani da sunansa na tsakiya Scott, an haife shi ne a St. Charles, Illinois, ɗan Dorothy E. (née Harpel) da John Alexander Gration. Kakannin mahaifinsa 'yan Burtaniya ne. Ya shafe yarintarsa a abin da yanzu shi ne Jamhuriyar Demokradiyyar Kongo (to, Congo ta Belgium, daga baya Zaire) da Kenya, yayin da iyayensa suka yi aiki a matsayin malamai masu wa'azi a ƙasashen waje. Jumlar farko da ya fara furtawa ita ce a yaren Kiswahili, kuma ya kasance mai magana da yaren Kiswahili a duk rayuwarsa. A Lokacin Rikicin Kwango
a farkon shekarun 1960, an kwashe iyalinsa sau uku, kuma sun zama 'yan gudun hijira, sun koma Kenya bayan kwashe na uku a 1964.