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The true story behind "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents"

Season 38 Episode 5 | 2m 05s

Julia Alvarez and her sisters recount the day they had to escape from the Dominican Republic with their parents, because of her father's involvement in a plot to overthrew the dictator, Rafael Trujillo. The experience inspired a scene in her first novel, "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents."

Support for American Masters is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, AARP, Rosalind P. Walter Foundation, Judith and Burton Resnick, Blanche and Hayward Cirker Charitable Lead Annuity Trust, Koo and Patricia Yuen, Lillian Goldman Programming Endowment, Seton J. Melvin, Thea Petschek Iervolino Foundation, Anita and Jay Kaufman, The Philip and Janice Levin Foundation, Kate W. Cassidy Foundation, The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, The Ambrose Monell Foundation, Ellen and James S. Marcus, The Charina Endowment Fund, The Marc Haas Foundation and public television viewers.
Extras
Celebrate the life and career of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Mary Oliver.
Comedian Atsuko Okatsuka returns to the show to talk about her creative process.
Watch as Oglala Lakota musician Mato Wayuhi draw on ancestral knowledge to inform his process.
This version contains EAD. Explore the life of notable Black scholar W.E.B. Du Bois.
This version contains ASL interpretation. Explore the life of notable Black scholar W.E.B. Du Bois.
Follow Warren King as he transforms cardboard into intricate sculptures.
Oscar-nominated actor Greg Kinnear shares some "big thoughts."
Explore the life and legacy of notable Black scholar and civil rights pioneer W.E.B. Du Bois.
Born in 1868, W.E.B. Du Bois rose from hardship to academic excellence.
At the 1900 Paris Expo, Du Bois used data to present a visually captivating case against racism.