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BEHIND THE STRIPES

George F. Baker III

By Atlanta United FC

February 24^th, 2026

George F. Baker III thinks back to one of his most vivid memories when he stares at his creation.

He’s just a kid growing up in Detroit. He’s at the drive-thru movie theater with his family watching the Pokémon movie, and much to his excitement, his mom lets the kids get up on top of the car to watch. To keep it comfortable, she opens the back of the car and grabs an old quilt.

A family heirloom, it had been made years ago by Baker’s grandmother.

“I remember I felt so peaceful in that moment,” Baker said.

As he admires Atlanta United’s 2026 Black History Month Scarf, which he designed, Baker’s story about quilt culture is as rich as the history his art recounts.

“I thought about how important it is to the Black community, that there is something that's bound up in the threads,” Baker said. “It's more than just cotton and silk, it's family, it's tradition, it's belief in one another. I wanted to channel that into the scarf.”

That moment in his memory speaks to how quilts bring people together. Quilting has long been an art form passed down from generation to generation in Black communities. Just as Baker’s grandma’s work was inspired by those who came before her, Baker carries on that tradition in the scarf. It encapsulates many different themes of his upbringing and of Black history.

Though much of his inspiration came from his own experience, he wanted to make sure he wasn’t just telling his own story. Baker did research to inform his creative process, namely on quilt culture’s ties to the Underground Railroad. Enslaved people sometimes embedded codes or signals in their quilts in order to provide directions to others looking to escape.

Baker’s scarf contains intricate patterning, with triangles pointing in different directions among other shapes that blend to create the quilted effect Baker was aiming for. Those same triangles, in the context of Baker’s inspiration, can be seen as arrows pointing in specific directions, much like the codes sewn into quilts hundreds of years ago.

And that leads to the mantra woven into the scarf.

“All Roads Lead to Atlanta”.

Atlanta’s ties to Black history are undeniable, and Baker wanted a slogan to reflect that. Chuckling, he points out how he’s seen the city’s influence manifest.

“Even if you look at old Black movies from like the 80s and 90s, no matter what it always feels like, wherever the character is, if he's in some trouble, he's like, ‘Yo, I'm about to pack up and leave to go to Atlanta,'” Baker said. “Atlanta has, for centuries, been this place that people come to find glory. People come to find safety, they come to find relevance and belief in themselves.”

The letters, formed by that same quilt-like pattern, read out the phrase. Baker witnessed the city’s relevance around the world on a recent trip to Japan, where he stumbled upon an Atlanta-themed club.

“It's something that I believe in wholeheartedly,” Baker said. “Whether you're looking at any type of culture, I feel like all roads lead back to here. All the threads come back to Atlanta and the influence that we have.”

The colors Baker chose are just as intentional as the rest of the design: the light blue green representing the liveliness of a bustling city, the browns tying the scarf to the earth, and the reddish orange blending the Peach State orange with the red clay of Georgia’s soil.

“I wanted to make a color scheme that felt bright, that felt like there was energy to it, but also felt very grounded,” Baker said. “It felt like it was modeled after the red clay that we’re birthed on.”

Baker had worked with the club on other projects, including murals, in the past. But being asked to design a piece of his own, one that would be shared with the world, brought him another level of excitement.

“I would have never predicted or put on my bingo card that I would be making a scarf for Atlanta United. I'm completely honored to be able to do it,” Baker said. “I saw the email, and I started screaming out loud. I was in the coffee shop just wilding out.”

Baker III is a joyful and thoughtful person, someone whose storytelling reveals to you the beauties of life that you might not even notice. He introduces himself to everyone the exact same way, “George F. Baker III”. There’s a power in the way he says his full name each and every time. It’s one little way he honors his heritage.

Art has always been around Baker, especially in his family members. He grew up in a big family, where people were always making things. His dad practiced “creating his life”, whether he was a pharmacist, carpenter, a cook. Now, Baker does the same.

“[Art] gives me the agency to create myself,” Baker said. “I get so much joy out of making something so perfectly built for a person.”

The Black History Month scarf is a deeply personal project for him. He hopes that it, among other Black art, can help his people feel like they belong.

“One of the most beautiful things that can happen to any person is to be able to either see themselves or see the person they want to be in whatever type of industry,” Baker said. “It's something to where it makes it makes your dreams feel more realized.”

Seeing his scarf for the first time in person, Baker couldn’t stop admiring the final product. His first inspiration, the memory of his grandmother’s quilt, is crystal clear in his mind.

As it turns out, the story is more of a bittersweet one. Baker continues, explaining the day after the drive-thru movie their car was stolen with the quilt still in the back.

“I mourned it. My mom mourned it,” Baker said. “But the reason why we mourned wasn't just because [the quilt] brought us comfort. It was family, it was connection, and it was something that meant a lot.”

Even though the scarf reminds him of that loss, there’s an unbridled joy to the way he tells the story. It’s joy he believes everyone can find in his art.

“I want my work to inspire people to realize the beauty and joy that they already have inside themselves,” Baker said. “… Not the beauty that is created on the canvas or scarf, I want them to see the beauty in themselves. So, if you love my work, you love yourself.”

Footnotes

Story by Adam Jasper / Photos by Matthew Dingle, Brandon Magnus / Creative Direction by Sekou Thornell

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FootNotes

Story by Adam Jasper / Photos by Matthew Dingle, Brandon Magnus / Creative Direction by Sekou Thornell

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