Event to commemorate the signing will take place at the historic Bulfinch Meetinghouse in Lancaster, MA on Wednesday, February 4 at 6PM, featuring performances by The Kingdom Voices and Glory Choir, directed by Kirosha Sidelca. Rep. Michael Kushmerek, the MA Representative who helped Rev. Wil get the Rosa Parks Day bill passed, will be our guest speaker.

BOSTON and LANCASTER—On Wednesday, January 8, 2025, Gov. Maura Healey signed Bill H.3075 An Act Relative to Rosa Parks Day, making February 4 each year a day set aside in honor of civil rights icon Rosa Parks in Massachusetts. This will make the Commonwealth the ninth state in the country to recognize Rosa Parks’ profound contribution to the civil rights movement with an annual state recognition. There are also growing calls for this day to be observed at the federal level. In 2025, First Church presented its First Annual Rosa Parks Day Service.

On the forthcoming date of its second Massachusetts observance, next Wednesday, February 4, 2025, at 6:00 PM, an event to commemorate the signing will take place at the Bulfinch Meetinghouse, 725 Main Street in Lancaster where the bill’s initiator Rev. Wil Darcangelo serves as Minister. Guest speakers will include Rep. Michael Kushmerek, 3rd Worcester, who (along with Rep. Kip Diggs, 2nd Barnstable) presented the successful bill to the legislature.

This bill was the third attempt by Rev. Wil Darcangelo of Fitchburg to convince the state legislature to commemorate the day, making numerous phone calls, emails, texts, and also testifying at the State House on two separate occasions. He proposed it to take place annually on February 4 as it is not only Rosa Parks’ birthday, but also falls during Black History Month. The first attempt was made through former state Rep. Stephan Hay (3rd Worcester) in 2019. Then, when the first bill timed out at the end of the legislative session, it was attempted again in 2021. This time with the assistance of Rep. Michael Kushmerek (3rd Worcester) and Rep. Kip Diggs (2nd Barnstable) of the MA Black and Latino Caucus. Not making it through on that try, they presented a third version in 2023 which finally passed the legislature on December 30, 2024 and was presented to the Governor for signature on January 1, 2025.

Rev. Wil Darcangelo: “There is only so much one person can do to affect social transformation in the world. So few of us are truly in a position to cultivate major change on our own. But each of us is capable of at least some act of kindness and honor that might work in favor of the world we wish to see. This annual state recognition will not save the world, but it will have its energetic impact nonetheless. And hopefully the annual recognition of this woman, who has personally inspired me so much, will create at least a small social impact in service of racial justice and awareness of civil rights history in the United States. My calling as a Unitarian minister compels me to seek out ways in which I can do that, especially now when we need it so much.”

for more information: Wil Darcangelo wildarcangelo@gmail.com C: 978-602-2684, Rep. Michael Kushmerek michael.kushmerek@mahouse.gov