Background
Mr. Hercules was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, on February 12, 1917. His father Felix Hercules was a Venezuelan-born teacher and government employee who supported British rule over the island (Trinidad became independent from Britain in the 1960s). Despite his loyalty to the Crown, Felix Hercules was thrown out of Trinidad by the British after he lectured in support of black workers in England during World War I; when labor unrest flared in nearby Jamaica, he was accused of inciting disorder.