引述 :『I mean, thank you for having me, Amy. It’s a humbling experience, first and foremost. But, I mean, I’m a South Bronx Puerto Rican-born girl, 1972. I was in the South Bronx when hip hop, which is still now the voice of multi-racial young people all over the world, began. So I’m humbled, but I’m ready for the work. I’ve been in a great tradition of student activists coming from the State University of New York at Albany in the early ’90s to getting my Master’s at Cornell University under the mentorship of Dr. James Turner and being a community organizer with the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, but again under mentorship of the great late Richie Perez. 』

引述 :『這場演講的背景在於由於歐巴馬平常做禮拜的教會牧師被人拍下在佈道時對白人極為仇視的種族主義言論，並且放在Youtube上面播放，因此造成極大的震撼！各界紛紛要求歐巴馬表態，而且民主黨兩大陣營也荒腔走板的面對媒體說出許多性別及種族的歧視言論，因此，歐巴馬為力挽狂瀾，選定在獨立宣言議定的Philadelphia（費城）以美國獨立宣言為主題來進行破題演講，但實質上內文講的卻是美國的種族紛爭和未來的走向。Youtube上的演講未經翻譯。翻譯的版本是由徐聖俠兄所提供，簡體字幕版本由劉慕華所製作，繁體版本由朱學恒所編輯處理。 』

引述 :『At the same time, many of the YouTube participants were completely in the dark that their question would be asked until they saw it on television.』