Author

Sophia Qureshi

Sophia is the founder of 285 South, Metro Atlanta’s only English language news publication dedicated to the region’s immigrant and refugee communities. Before launching 285 South in 2021, she worked for over 15 years in media and communications, including at Al Jazeera Media Network, CNN, the United Nations Development Programme, and South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT).

Her writing has been published in Atlanta Magazine, Canopy Atlanta, the Atlanta Civic Circle, the Atlanta History Center, and The Local Palate. She won the Atlanta Press Club award for Narrative Nonfiction in 2023 and 2024; and was a recipient of the Raksha Community Change award in 2023 and was a fellow of Ohio University’s Kiplinger Public Affairs Journalism Program in 2024.

Contact her at sophia@285south.com and learn more about her here.

Sophia's Latest Articles

After a Palestinian activist was excluded from a Decatur book talk, a pastor hopes to make amends

Sparking criticism from civil rights groups, private security prevented Jawahir Sharwany from entering an event featuring Sen. Cory Booker—even though she'd bought a ticket.

At Unity Fest in Clarkston, children celebrate their cultures, both old and new

DeKalb County students come together for the third annual festival

 Spring has sprung—and for one Burundian farmer, that means it’s time to get back to the garden

This year, gardeners from the nonprofit Global Growers Network are combating food insecurity by harvesting produce for local food banks.

Woman who assisted in federal abuse investigation, arrested at Atlanta airport and deported days later

“A slap in the face,” her attorney says describing her client’s situation, who had a pending U-visa application

A Rohingya man in New York died under mysterious circumstances— his relatives in Georgia are grappling with the loss

Federal immigration officers left Nurul Amin Shah Alam outside a closed coffee shop in harsh winter weather— days later he was found dead. He was getting ready to move to Georgia, says his niece in Stone Mountain.

These are the bills impacting immigrants in Georgia that survived Crossover Day—or didn’t

Crossover Day is the make-or-break point for bills to have a chance of passing in each year’s legislative session. Here’s how a range of laws affecting immigrants fared.

Rodney Taylor struggles to use his wheelchair and prosthetic legs as health deteriorates in immigration detention, says family

Advocates and family members of Gwinnett County resident held at Stewart Detention Center, travel to Washington D.C. to raise the alarm on his case.

“We did it”: Latinx student film Nuestra Realidad makes its cinematic debut at Tara Theatre

“We’re really taking up the space and not only just taking it, but we’re adding to it.”

“We are stuck”: With SNAP and Medicaid benefits cuts, refugee families in Clarkston on edge

Following legislation passed last year, almost all immigrants and refugees in the U.S. lost access to crucial food and healthcare support. Here's how two families are coping.

An afternoon at the ICNA food pantry on Memorial Drive

We sat down with Abdul Basit to talk about his work fighting food insecurity and what it’s like to do his job in the midst of mass federal cuts.