She can be heard in over 20 markets in cities across the country. Nationally syndicated iHeart Media show host Frankie Darcell is a sterling example to the radio broadcast industry and to the millions of listeners who have grown to make Darcell appointment radio over the years. The Black community has been served by Darcell’s ability to keep people informed and entertained.
Darcell’s voice was a distinctive one to Detroit audiences and has been one Detroiters have missed. The New York native spent over 20 years on MIX 92.3 WMXD before the station made a change in its daytime programming in 2022, removing her from the air.
Darcell isn’t one who sees doors being closed and locked – she’s willing to walk through a different door on her journey through life and career.
“When you make a change in your life, when you’re moving on to the next chapter in your life and the next journey, throw a party!” said Darcell in an interview with Michigan Chronicle. “Detroit has been so good to me [but]…like canned goods, everything has an expiration date and so I’m making a transition out of my radio career in Detroit and moving on to doing other things.”
Friends of the radio veteran told her she can’t just depart the airwaves then pack her “pillowcase” and leave. The reality is, Darcell has been multi-taking her on-air duties from Philadelphia where she resides and has been commuting back and forth from the city of brotherly love to the Motor City for 10 years.
Hearing from a strong and supportive community, the message was clear to Frankie, the community wanted to do something with her and for her.
After conversations with key stakeholders came the birth of “Frankie Darcell Celebration Weekend.”
The three-day extravaganza will run September 22 through September 24 in Detroit, and it plans to be a gathering for entertainment, information and for a good cause.
The first event kicks off on Thursday, September 22, as a Mix & Mingle, where longtime fans and listeners will have an opportunity to meet and greet the Detroit radio queen. The event is free and begins at 6 p.m. at Bert’s Marketplace in Detroit’s Eastern Market.
“I want to take every picture, and take this opportunity to thank every supporter in the room. It means so much to me.”
Frankie comes with many gifts and talents, more than just the voice people have come to hear on the radio; she is also an author and theater director. Darcell first became involved in theater in college at Morgan State University. Later, she would direct her first stage play in Detroit, “For Colored Girls” by Ntozake Shange. Her passion for theater has continued on ever since.
“In 2017, one of my business partners said, you need to write your own stage plays. So, I was headed to South Africa on a 16-hour flight and started writing my stage play and premiered it in Philly in 2019.”
Frankie’s stage play, “Conversations for Sistas Only” received glowing reviews and standing ovations. It will be a part of the “Celebration Weekend” and will be featured Friday, September 23, beginning at 7 p.m. at the Marygrove Conservancy Performing Arts Center.
“It is the modern day colored girls. I like to do intellectual theater where people feel like they see themselves in their experiences on stage.” Darcell morphed her book of the same namesake and some of her best “Talk of the Town” radio show topics and turned it into a story and now a stage play that she’s inviting Detroit to come see, which she attributes as a “Great piece of work.”
“Men will love it as well…you will love how Black men are being represented, and we talk about all the taboo stuff – just a great show! I put it up in Philly, but there’s nothing like wanting to have this show in Detroit!”
Frankie’s mother has a special place in her heart. Detroit became her mother’s home for 16 years following Darcell’s divorce. Her mother was by her side and helped raise her daughter while Frankie worked.
“In 1998, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, at the time we couldn’t even say breast on the air.” It was amongst a discussion with a group of friends where Frankie came up with the idea for a walk that would raise awareness about breast cancer, specifically for Black women hoping to stop the silence.
Frankie’s daughter would become inspired by the walk and during her undergraduate time in college started a scholarship in her grandmother’s name.
Frankie’s mom beat breast cancer and lived cancer free for 20 years before her death in 2019. In honor of her mom, on Saturday, September 24, the “Celebration Weekend” will host the Rosa’s Angel Scholarship Breast, Prostate and Colon Cancer Walk for Families at Fellowship Chapel from 9 a.m. to noon in Detroit.
“My sister and I knew we needed to make sure we had our mammograms…I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2017, I found it stage 1 …but praise GOD I am five years breast cancer free.”
At the end of the walk there will be an opportunity for participants to write the name of someone they know are who was impacted by the dreadful disease and send their names off in a huge balloon release.
It will be an action-packed weekend for Detroiters to celebrate with the radio legend. Darcell remains excited about what’s next in her journey and appreciates all the love and support this city has given her.
“Since making this transition in Detroit, I can’t tell you how many opportunities have opened for me.… I still have so much I want to do. People say, folks are retiring, I probably never will. And when people say ‘Frankie, there are so many people that love you,’ I just felt like I was just doing what I was called to do.”
Darcell’s love for this city will always be here despite not being raised here or having not attended Cass Tech which people assume, which she laughs often about.
“I absolutely love Detroit. I’ve lived in Detroit longer than I’ve lived anywhere.…I’m going to be around for a very long time.”
Darcell currently is syndicated in several radio markets with iHeart Media and has a podcast partnership with Michigan Chronicle’s parent company, Real Times Media, and Black Information Network, as host of “Frankie Darcell Has a Big Mouth”.
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