Hercules to the rescue

Leave it to Hercules to do the heavy lifting.

Hercules Gaines, a Coeur d’Alene barber who looks like he could be Shaq’s big brother, saw a nation-shredding, culture-changing racial divide and decided he needed to do something about it here at home. He organized last night’s forum, “Your Life Matters,” with local police. Their mission: Through education, to learn from the tragedies that have befallen other communities with police shootings and thus avoid them here.

Gaines was up front when he told Maureen Dolan of The Press that he walked a similar thin line himself. No stranger to law enforcement from his “knucklehead” past, Gaines said he always respected the police, and believes that’s why he never ended up on the receiving end of a bullet.

While he laments the senseless loss of life in police shootings, Gaines said his review of the incidents showed a common element: The men who were shot were either arguing or struggling with police. On a broader scale, he said as a black man, he knows what it’s like to be stereotyped.

“I feel like with all of this going on, we’re doing the same thing to police,” he told Dolan.

After studying the issue intently and listening to his customers at A Thin Line Barbershop, Gaines decided to step out of his comfort zone, with last night’s forum the first big step.

“I want to do some preventive maintenance instead of damage control,” he said. “And if we do that, we have less chance of it happening here.”

This well-spoken man’s authority on addressing the issue comes from something superficial — the color of his skin — and something much deeper: his experience on both sides of the law. That he happens to be named Hercules is fertile fodder for headline writers wherever he might go.

If Hercules Gaines so chooses, we’d love to see him take this show on the road. In the Coeur d’Alene area his message is not lost, but other communities might benefit even more. We believe Hercules & Co. might save lives. Who knows? Their message might help save a nation.