Jenna L Belhumeur | Journalist
Sample Clips
Dancing on Common Ground
Tablet Magazine, August 2018
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL—For secular and religious Jews alike, psytrance music provides an escape—whether it be from the pressures of life in the Holy Land, adherence to a holy lifestyle, or even the irreverent humdrum of the mundane. Imbuing a “secular” genre with a kiss of the sublime, atheists and believers alike agree the music may even be holy unto itself.
Why This Country Is Moving Its Coral Reefs
National Geographic, April 2018
AQABA, JORDAN—As urban development increases along the Gulf of Aqaba, some popular dive sites will no longer be accessible. To meet touristic demand, and to protect the area's marine life, certain coral reefs have been artificially replanted.
A Rare License Plate Number Can Fetch $900,000 in Qatar
VICE, October 2017
DOHA, QATAR—With so many unusual and expensive cars on the road, rich folks in the wealthy Gulf country bid for limited license plate numbers to stand out and show off.
IN PICTURES: Pilgrimage to Ethiopia's 12th-century iconic churches
Al Jazeera, July 2017
LALIBELA, ETHIOPIA—The World Heritage site draws visitors and pilgrims with its monolithic churches carved into the ground.
IN PICTURES: The walled city of Harar in eastern Ethiopia
Al Jazeera, June 2017
HARAR, ETHIOPIA—The colourful, maze-like alleys within the Mecca of Africa remain alive and busy during the holy month of Ramadan.
Doha's grocery rejects
Al Jazeera, June 2017
DOHA, QATAR—Shortly after Saudi Arabia shut Qatar's only land border owing to a diplomatic spat between Gulf countries, residents in the Qatari capital flooded supermarkets in search of supplies. But some products remained untouched.
Austria's parliament bans full-face veil in public
Al Jazeera, May 2017
Austrian members of parliament have approved a new bill which bans garments that fully cover the face of women - the latest restriction for the country's Muslim population.
Drone strike that killed Reyaad Khan 'not transparent'
Al Jazeera, April 2017
Intelligence and Security Committee says government did not disclose key documents over killing of Reyaad Khan in Syria.
Iceland’s No. 1 Dating Rule: Make Sure You’re Not Cousins
The Wall Street Journal, Oct. 2016
REYKJAVIK, ICELAND—Connections are common in a country of 330,000, leading singles to check family backgrounds
Voracious, Constantly Spawning Lionfish Have Proven Difficult to Contain
The Wall Street Journal, July 2016
CAYE CAULKER, BELIZE—Lionfish have been a longstanding nemesis of marine conservationsists, who have blamed these striped, venomous swimmesr for upending marine life in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico by voraciously munching on small fish vital to coral-reef ecosystems.
Holy Cow: The Controversy Surrounding India's Beef Ban
Jenna Belhumeur & Alice Guilhamon, May 2015
NEW DELHI—There are politics behind beef consumption in India. The BJP, India’s ruling party who is known for trying to revamp a sense of Hindu nationalism within the country, demands that laws against cow slaughter be strengthened. But Muslims, Christians and Dalits consume meat and the industry itself provides livelihood for a large number of people. These minorities feel they are being marginalized by the new laws. Are India’s Muslims, who form a majority in the beef business but a minority in the country, being targeted in the guise of cow protection? Alice Guilhamon and Jenna Belhumeur report from New Delhi.
The Shri Hanuman Temple: A Place for Healing Body and Mind
Jenna Belhumeur & Alice Guilhamon, May 2015
SARANGPUR, INDIA — In October 2014, India introduced its first national policy surrounding the issue of mental health, including provisions for more institutions and trained professionals. In a country where only 0.06 percent of the total health budget is spent on mental health (compared to U.S.’s 6.2 percent and England’s 10.82 percent, according to the World Health Organization’s Mental Health Atlas of 2011), the issue of mental healing has, like most facets of Indian life, taken on a religious tone.
Marchers Protest Ferguson Grand Jury Decision
Jenna Belhumeur, November 2014
Live reporting of protest march in NYC following the grand jury decision against indictment of police officer Darren Wilson for the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.
DOC NYC Festival Review - Citizenfour: Portrait of a Whistle-Blower
Jenna Belhumeur, November 2014
What happens when technology outpaces democratic oversight? Citizenfour answers just that.
Big Sense of Stigmatization in Little Liberia
Jenna Belhumeur, October 2014
The growing fear over the deadly Ebola virus has translated to an increased sense of stigmatization among Liberians living in Staten Island's Little Liberia community
New York City Is My Asylum
Jenna Belhumeur, October 2014
Michael Ighodaro works at a non-profit in Harlem by day and attends liberal arts courses at Borough of Manhattan Community College by night. Just another multi-tasking New Yorker, perhaps. But Ighodaro holds a special status here. Since March 2013 he has been a political asylee, protected from returning to his homeland of Nigeria because of his sexual orientation.
Gentrification’s Latest Victim: Africa Kine
Jenna Belhumeur, September 2014
A large, lime green sign hangs behind the metal shutters of what once was a bustling restaurant in Harlem’s Le Petit Senegal, a neighborhood stretching for two blocks along 116th Street. The area is known for its high concentration of West Africans. The first line reads: “THIS LOCATION IS PERMANENTLY CLOSED.” Africa Kine is gentrification’s latest victim.
Chilean Winter
Jenna Belhumeur & Suzy Strutner, February 2013
SANTIAGO, Chile — Few stuck around to see the end of the march.
The streets were slick with the spray of the water cannons police had used to break up groups of lingering students. Gas filled alleyways and inflamed tear ducts. It was cold.
But some rebellious high school students, or encapuchados, weren’t fazed. At about 2 p.m., the small crowd of marchers that were left passed by Liceo Insuco 2, a high school.