A powerful memoir of incarceration and transformation
Born Robert Lewis in rural South Carolina and raised in deep poverty in New Jersey, Kamau Marcharia came of age amid racism and violence. At nineteen, he was wrongly convicted of assault and sentenced to decades in prison. What followed during his incarceration was a profound personal and political awakening.
After his release from prison, Marcharia helped found the Ad Hoc Parole Committee, supporting incarcerated people as they navigated a complicated and capricious parole system. Returning to South Carolina, he became a tireless grassroots organizer who confronted racial injustice and police abuse in some of the state's most neglected communities. As director of Fairfield United Action, and later as a member of Fairfield County Council, he demonstrated that deliberate, community-based struggle can challenge entrenched power—and win.
Justice Is Worth the Journey is a memoir of a life defined by resilience and hard-earned wisdom. Marcharia offers a rare, ground-level view of post-civil rights activism that can serve as a model for community organizing rooted in courage, commitment, and collective action.
Kamau Marcharia is a grassroots political activist who has worked as a community organizer for more than fifty years. He was director of Fairfield United Action and, from 1999 – 2017, served as a member of County Council in Fairfield County, South Carolina.
