POWERGRAMS

5 Jonathan Porter doesn't regret the day he told the world about the rape of his great-grandmother a century ago by a white landowner when she was 15. It was a crime her family was forced to live with, knowing no court would convict the man if arrested. They realized bringing charges could bring their own deaths out of racist retaliation in rural Alabama. The rape brought about the birth of Porter's grandmother, who birthed his mother, who birthed Porter, who as a teenager learned of the tragic crime. After the death of George Floyd in May, Porter was asked to give his views for the "Our Shared Responsibility" intranet video series. He knew taking a stand could be illustrated no better way than revealing the heart- wrenching family secret. "Unfortunately, with everything going on in our country, we reached a point where you have to say something or do something," said Porter, senior vice president of Customer Operations. "I thought, 'What can I do to make a difference?' The feedback I received from all over the company and country was positive. From white, Black, male, female, it was, 'Thank you, Jonathan.' It shows that the more we communicate, the more we're going to find we have many more commonalities than we have differences." Porter struck a chord by asking viewers, "How would you feel?" if the circumstances were their own. Some people told him the same thing happened to their ancestors in Alabama. Yet, he and they, his and their families, have remained loyal to their state and country. Porter said the time is long past for Blacks in America to not only have legal rights, but to enjoy equal treatment. His career has been punctuated by efforts at reaching that goal. Starting in an entry level role with Alabama Power as a 17-year-old intern, Porter worked in a Birmingham warehouse setting up appliance deliveries. He worked summers for the company all four years during college, when he was an academic all-star football fullback for Tuskegee University. Porter was promised a job upon graduation but then "devastated" to find there was a hiring freeze that left him scrambling for another job, which he found with Protective Life as a junior underwriter. "It just wasn't for me," he said of feeling out of place at Protective. However, his gap employer paid for graduate school at UAB, and while at Protective he met a woman who offered a job with Inroads to recruit standout minority students. Porter soon established relationships with every college in Alabama, which would pay future dividends. Inroads Chairman of the Board George Hairston was CEO of Southern Nuclear and brought Porter back to Alabama Power Corporate Headquarters to recruit minority engineers for Southern Company opcos. Porter quickly learned about the business, the companies and the people of Southern Nuclear, Alabama Power, Gulf Power and Mississippi Power. Porter applied for the job of Human Resources business representative for Alabama Power Customer Services, got it, then three years later was offered his first supervisor job in the Call Center in Montgomery. He spent a year in Montgomery before John Hudson hired him into Birmingham Division's Metro Central Business Office for almost three years. Donna Smith then hired Porter back to HR to lead diversity and inclusion, leadership development and succession planning efforts while he supported three divisions for another two years. "The thing that really just changed my life was in 2009, I got a call from Dorothy Green, who was Mark Crosswhite's executive assistant. I thought, 'Lord, what have I done?' I didn't even support External Affairs. Mark said he needed an assistant to, and 'As I look around, your name keeps coming to the top.' I was just floored. I didn't have any dreams of being in BLACK HISTORY MONTH PORTER REVEALED DARK SECRET TO MAKE RACISM REAL TO OTHERS by Chuck Chandler • Photos by Phil Free Porter with photos of his great-grandmother and grandmother.

• Cover