A love for inspiring and unifying the Starkville community led Frank and Tammie Nichols, alongside Yulanda Haddix, to found the StarkVegas Juneteenth Committee for Unity.
Starkville native Frank Nichols has served numerous roles in the city, including police chief from 2014-2019. Tammie Nichols is also a local but moved to North Carolina for several years after college. She returned to Starkville about 15 years ago to work with women in the community when God led her to find her husband.
“And so, not even knowing each other, God kind of strategically placed us in the right places. Our families knew one another, but we didn’t. [We] became the best of friends, and the rest is history,” Tammie Nichols said while smiling at her husband.
Starkville native Yulanda Haddix, president of the Oktibbeha County NAACP chapter, is a motivational speaker, teacher and co-owner of Big Dawg’s BBQ.
Frank Nichols and Haddix had worked together with the NAACP and other organizations, and Haddix knew Tammie Nichols from her involvement in Starkville.
“We all can do the same vision, and it makes it so easy,” Haddix said of the Nicholses. “And we believe in what we’re doing … It works really well. They’re a great couple to work with.”
Frank Nichols said the idea for the unity committee began when he and his wife hosted the one-day StarkVegas Jazz Music and Heritage Festival in June 2021. That year, President Joe Biden declared Juneteenth a federal holiday.
“What we did [in 2022] was just decide to take the jazz festival and make it a five-day celebration, in celebration of Juneteenth,” Frank Nichols said. 
Haddix said the NAACP chapter also wanted to host a Juneteenth event last year, so she helped organize the event and let Frank Nichols handle the music. 
Tammie Nichols said her husband’s love of jazz music perfectly aligned with their organization’s mission because Black people created and impacted the genre’s sound.
“We wanted to kind of give our city that experience of what jazz stands for and how it kind of soothes your soul,” Tammie Nichols said.
Additionally, Haddix highlighted the importance of teaching all people about Black history. 
“It wasn’t just going to be a Black event,” Haddix said. “It’s going to be a community-wide based event, because not only do we want to celebrate Juneteenth, we want other ethnic groups to understand Juneteenth and learn about Juneteenth.”
Outside of those five days in June, the unity committee members work to encourage and motivate residents to participate actively in the community.
“We’re more than just a Juneteenth committee,” Frank Nichols said.
The committee hosts conferences, speaks at meetings, gives high school students scholarships and participates in city events.
“A lot of our committee members are those who have businesses, those people who have a heartened passion for the city of Starkville,” Tammie Nichols said, “and [we’re] just wanting to make sure our youth understand the heritage from whence they’ve come.” 
The Nicholses and Haddix both displayed a love of engaging with young people to inspire the next generation of leaders.
Tammie Nichols highlighted March as Women’s History Month and mentioned the women’s conferences she had hosted.
“As a community leader, I think that’s why I came back [to Starkville] … to let women of all cultures know who they are and how to find their purpose, live their best life and be impactful,” said Tammie Nichols, who works in the television industry and for Mississippi State University as a health and wellness educator. 
At the Board of Aldermen’s last meeting, Frank Nichols stood at the podium to ask why the city did not publicly celebrate or announce Black History Month this year.
In his speech, he said he was not criticizing the board but rather encouraging the city to honor the month moving forward.
“If we’re going to be a community about diversity, we need to act like it,” Frank Nichols told The Reflector. “It isn’t one culture being featured — it shouldn’t be.”
Mayor Lynn Spruill said Starkville had never publicly honored Black History Month during her time as mayor because the state celebrates it. 
“It wasn’t something that occurred to me,” Spruill said to The Reflector, “so I am happy for [Frank Nichols] to bring that forward next year at Black History Month.”
Spruill mentioned the city also had not honored Women’s History Month. 
Frank Nichols said “there are no excuses” for not celebrating Black history in the future. 
“I don’t think we rely on the state for anything else, so why would we rely on it for Black History Month?” Frank Nichols said. 
He said the mayor, who is white, should have asked Black individuals in the community how the city could honor Black history.
During Frank Nichols’ time as police chief, the city created social media accounts. The police department first made its online presence by highlighting employees and informing citizens of laws. 
Frank Nichols said the police department would celebrate not only Black History Month but also Starkville Pride and the Christmas parade, among other dates. 
“It ain’t all about Black people — it’s about unity,” Frank Nichols said. 
As more Black individuals move to Starkville, attend Mississippi State University and play collegiate sports, Frank Nichols said Black parents notice these attributes when looking for schools for their children to attend. 
“How does the city accept you being African American?” Frank Nichols said. 
Growing up, Frank Nichols said he was not welcome in every environment because he was Black. He said the impact of the segregation laws still affects life today. 
“I know that every time [Black people have] been given a half a chance, a whole chance is taken away,” Frank Nichols said.
He said his duty is to fix his part of the world to help the mission of international unification, which the Juneteenth committee also works towards.
Like Tammie Nichols, Haddix moved away from Starkville for some years. She said she returned in 2015 to teach her hometown how to live harmoniously. 
“I just love the community where, you know, everybody has something in common; we just have to find what it is and enjoy,” Haddix said.
Working together and having the same heart for the city strengthens Frank and Tammie Nichols’ relationship, and above all, the two respect each other. 
“It definitely is a benefit because, at the end of the day, we’re going home together,” Frank Nichols said.
Tammie Nichols added to her husband’s sentiment.
“We know each other’s strengths … and we complement each other well,” Tammie Nichols said. “And just being able to communicate nonverbally — he can look at me, and I can look at him, and we just know ‘when.’”
The Nicholses and Haddix continue to serve their hometown passionately for their purpose  — love and unity.
“Your purpose can’t be beating people up and being a bully; that’s not God,” Frank Nichols said. “So, it has to involve love.”

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Courtesy Photo | Yulanda Haddix

Yulanda Haddix is the co-founder of the StarkVegas Juneteenth Committee for Unity.