Nigeria, March 1 -- When I traveled to Cuba, I saw faces that looked like mine, Black people whose ancestors had been forcefully taken from Africa centuries ago.

They spoke a different language, bore different names, and lived in a foreign land, yet they were a mirror of the past, a past where ambition reshaped destinies.

As I sat in an airport waiting for my next flight, I reflected on the journey of those who had come before me, centuries ago in the most dehumanizing manner. It had taken me almost two days, moving from one modern transportation hub to another, flying at hundreds of miles per hour in an age of technology and innovation. Yet centuries ago, men without airplanes, without modern logistics, and without the consent of their...