‘The Newsroom’s’ Adina Porter redefines her role as an African-American artist in Hollywood

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The disciplined thespian likely learned such professionalism from her parents, who raised her and two sisters on a short leash in the South Bronx. According to Porter, her parents’ greatest concern was that she would “come home pregnant,” fulfilling every stereotype ascribed to her as a young black woman. Originally from Sierra Leone, her father immigrated to Harlem after living in London, and was the first African-American service provider at Mercedes-Benz. He also marched alongside Martin Luther King in Washington.

Porter’s mother was raised in Bermuda, later attending a segregated nursing school where she developed what Porter describes as a “placard” over her head, the result of “drinking the kool aid.”

Both parents tried desperately to prove they were good enough to succeed, instilling an industrious sentiment in their children.

“They knew where we were every second of the day, and they had activities for us every second of the day,” Porter remembers. “The kids in the projects that I grew up in didn’t know what was up with us because they would just see us walk through the door, and then they’d see us walk through the door again, but never hang out and play. So, they thought that we were uppity. And you know what? We were uppity.”

As a result, Porter sometimes didn’t feel “black enough;” she never learned to double-dutch, for instance, and only recently picked up a hula hoop for a role. She says she didn’t think she was pretty until college, when she realized her full lips were a major asset.

But as the world changed and generations rose stronger, the actress believes only the best has come from her history, and the future looks promising. Even in comparing her two most well known characters – Kendra and True Blood’s Lettie Mae – the difference is apparent.

“Lettie Mae is an alcoholic; Lettie Mae is a horrible mother; Lettie Mae is incredibly insecure; Lettie Mae swallowed the Kool-Aid of not being good enough and believes it,” Porter observes. “Lettie Mae is like the past as far as an African-American woman is concerned. Lettie Mae wears wigs or she presses her hair because she thinks her hair is ugly, and she’s gotta figure out any other way she can to be more white-like. Kendra wears a fro and it’s getting bigger. Kendra’s got a boyfriend; Kendra has a sexuality; Kendra has an opinion. Kendra is now, and Lettie Mae is a generation that is dying.”

Follow Courtney Garcia on Twitter at @courtgarcia