News anchor Lena Pringle shows off gorgeous natural haircut

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Lena Pringle, an anchor and reporter with WJXT News4JAX in Jacksonville, Florida, is rocking a new short hairstyle and embracing her natural look.

Pringle took to Twitter to express her love for her natural style and had a message for those who disapprove:

“Shoutout to the people who told me I wouldn’t be able to get/keep a broadcast news job with a short natural haircut,” she wrote. “Jokes on you, huh?”

Pringle, 27, has sported a short, natural hairstyle since 2018, but this is the shortest she has ever gone. She decided to try out the chic style to boost her mood.

“I have just kind of been in a mental slump lately and have been really trying to work to keep my spirits up, and I’m a true believer of when you look good, you feel good,” Pringle told TODAY Style.

Praise for being herself

Many fans praised Pringle on social media for wearing her natural hair in an industry that often discourages Black women on the air from wearing their natural, curly hair or other traditional African American styles, like braids.

“We have breaking news just in. You are slaying it,” one fan commented on Pringle’s Twitter post. “Much support to you.”

Lena Pringle says she never faced any opposition from her current employer for wearing her natural hair on TV, and in fact, she has worn a natural style on the air since she started working for the Jacksonville station last year.

Lisa Pringle says her natural hair is nonnegotiable

For Pringle, wearing her natural hair was “nonnegotiable” when she was hired. At her previous station, she began by wearing a relaxed pixie cut, then got permission from her news director to switch to a natural style.

And after she made that change, she told TODAY, “I knew that … moving forward, it was never going to be something that I negotiated.”