It’s so funny to read the headlines when they’re about someone you know personally. So often rumors and falsehoods are presented as truth. If you don’t know the real person and the real behind the scenes details, it can be easy to believe what you hear or what you read online.
Sintra Bronte is living proof of that. She is known to the world as the original Jamaican tourism board poster girl, a poster that has inspired legions of imitators and impersonators. But I have known her for as long as I can remember. My mom became friends with Bill and Sintra Bronte in the early 1980’s and in Trinidad, we call close family friends Aunty or Uncle. I have grown up knowing her as Aunty Sintra. And I’m so proud and happy to FINALLY share her story here on Afrobella! We’ve been talking about this for YEARS.
Here are some recent photos, in case you want to see what the original Jamaica poster girl looks like today.
Sintra did this most recent photo shoot at a friend’s home in Miami during a recent visit Stateside. She looks beautiful and relaxed, and she remains a symbol of Caribbean beauty.
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“One of the newspapers in Jamaica requested a recent photograph of me. And I think it’s time people know who she really is so they can stop speculating,” Sintra declared, during a recent phone interview.
Throughout my life I have known Sintra as an entrepreneur with multiple interests, primarily focusing on tourism, shipping and hospitality. She has focused on building a career along with her husband, Bill Bronte. They have a beautiful home and live a comfortable life. Fun fact – as far as I can remember, they have always had fresh veggies and animals as part of their home life. “We had at one time, 12 goats. Right now I have about 35 chickens so I get fresh, homegrown eggs,” she told me during this interview. They have a relaxed and enjoyable social life with a solid group of friends (including my parents).
I grew up knowing that Sintra was this Jamaican poster girl – she makes no secret of it, there is a large, framed copy of the poster in her home. But I didn’t realize the scope of the international attention and fame of the poster until I migrated from Trinidad. Through it all, she has just been Aunty Sintra who I am likely to see whenever I go back to Trinidad.
Read the rest Afrobella’s exclusive interview with Sintra Bronte at Afrobella.com.
