Growing up Donnie & Kaki - Paperbackby Birdel F. Jackson (Author) Author Birdel Jackson tells the story of his first 18 years growing up in segregated Memphis Tennessee of the 1940s and 50s with his younger sister Carol Ann. The siblings were known to family and friends as Donnie and Kaki. The siblings were raised in a household with their paternal grandparents Gladys and Birdel Senior and parents Leslieann and Birdel Junior. This nurturing environment was the foundation of their ideas,