POWERGRAMS

6 that position, that was viewed by many as a treasured job. I said, 'I will work hard for you, but I can't get your coffee or carry your coat.' He laughed at me and said, 'That's the very reason I want you, that you'd even say that.'" After 18 months as Crosswhite's assistant to, Porter was asked by Bobbie Knight to become Birmingham Division area manager, which he was for two years. Executive Vice President Steve Spencer brought Porter back to lead the Call Center before Smith retired as vice president of Human Resources and Porter replaced her in 2014. Almost two years later, Knight retired, opening the door for Porter to become vice president of Birmingham Division, a job he held until his current role. Today, a line can be drawn from Porter's steady string of promotions back to the terrors of 1921, which a half-century later would lead to his birth in Tuskegee, when Porter's parents graduated from then-Tuskegee Institute. His mother, Gwendolyn, was a nurse working at his birthplace John Andrews Memorial Hospital. His father, John, worked at a bank. Jonathan's sister, Circe, was born before they moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for their father to attend law school. They returned to Gwen's hometown of Bessemer in 1979. A couple of years later, Porter's youngest sister, Jonisha, was born. Shortly after that, Porter's father left the family. "My mother became a single parent. She raised me and my two sisters primarily on her own. When my father left, my mother took care of us with no financial support. We rarely saw him." The Porters lived with his maternal grandmother in her small home for about eight months until they rented an apartment. His mother soon bought a house on the same street as his grandmother and aunt. It would be the seventh grade before Gwen Porter could afford to buy Jonathan a pair of name brand athletic shoes. "As a little boy, it was a great situation for me because I just went from house to house eating," Porter recalled. "I grew up in a house full of women who really nurtured me, cared for me. I'm now very domestic. When I don't have things to do on the weekend, I love to cook and clean, maybe more so than my wife." Bessemer has been home to Bo Jackson, Neil Bonnet, Eddie LeVert, Jameis Winston and many other prominent Americans. Porter said he enjoyed growing up in a blue-collar town where he admired his seamstress grandmother who raised five children who all graduated from college. As a boy, Porter admired his uncle, Elvie Bryant, a nuclear engineer with a master's degree from Tuskegee who paid his way through college cutting grass and doing other unskilled labor. One of Porter's aunts was a teacher; another uncle was a chemist; another aunt a financial aid director at the University of Southern California School of Medicine. Porter's sisters both work for Southern Company and his first cousins include a surgeon, webmaster, pharmacist, nurse, accountant, educator, nutrition administrator, HR professional and dean of Culture and Students. Yet, his greatest influence remains his mother, the granddaughter of the woman raped by the white man who wielded such great power over his sharecroppers and their poor families. At 72, she continues nursing at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Birmingham. "The sacrifices she made for us, when my father left … she never entertained other men, her focus was on us. She often worked double-shifts to make ends meet," he said, tears welling in his eyes. "We weren't poor but it was tight. Mother focused on the basics and I think that is in my DNA. At an early age, I was able to tell the difference between wants and needs." Porter attended Bessemer city schools throughout his elementary and secondary school years. As a senior, his football team beat Murphy High to win the state 6A championship at Legion Field. His coach, Carroll Cox, said Porter was the best fullback in Alabama. Porter played in the 1991 Alabama- Mississippi All-Star Game. He received scholarship offers from several colleges but, because of widespread family ties, took Tuskegee's bid. Porter met Kima Fowler in ninth grade Spanish class, and she became his best female friend. Their relationship was strictly platonic. While Porter was at Tuskegee and Kima was at Jacksonville State University, they kept in touch through letters and occasional visits during college breaks. They began dating when they both were in graduate school and they eventually married. Porter at the new $175 million Protective Stadium in Birmingham.

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