Rico Sharp, who was incarcerated as a teenager nearly thirty years ago, enters a state prison to speak to hundreds of men about maintaining hope despite abandonment, uncertain release dates, and broken family ties. He tells them self-belief can lead to breakthroughs and successful reintegration, using his own transformation as proof that change is possible.
Chapters
I'm coming in today to talk to the men at this prison, and the conversation is going to be about never give up on you. Never give up on you. You can see the people Coming in to visit their loved ones. You can see the barbed wire, razor wire. And I'm the guest speaker for today. I'm going to be speaking to hundreds and hundreds of men today. And again, my message is on Never giving up on you, and I'm just trying to show you some video footage right now. I'm going to tell you what the message is about. But even over here, you can see there's more. There's another prison, and the reason I'm showing you this footage now is because I'm not going to be able to take my phone inside. And record at this state prison. They don't allow that. But you can see me right here. I gotta get ready to go inside. I gotta get ready to go inside. You can see some of the inmates. There's a guy right there. With blue on, and then there's an officer walking behind him. Um, yeah, I wish I could do better with this video quality. Let me turn this phone around on me. I'm coming in today to talk to these inmates about never give up on themselves. And I know that sometimes when you're incarcerated, you're in a tough predicament. I know because I've been incarcerated multiple times as a teenager. And when you're incarcerated, you feel like the world has given up on you. Many of these men in here, they have been given up on by society because some of them will never see society again. As a living human being. Some of them, they have life in prison. They would die in prison. And then others, they will, um, they have family members that have given up on them, that they haven't heard from in years. Some of their family members have died since they've been incarcerated. And, um, and then you got some They don't know when they're going to be released because that hasn't been established yet, because sometimes they're in different institutions where they have to be evaluated by doctors and psychiatrists and psychologists before they can be released. And the judge has to get a report from certain doctors and get a mental evaluation to see if they're in a place where they can be released back into society and become a productive citizen of our society. And then some have wives that have given up on them. Their wives have divorced them because they've been gone for so long, and their wives have gotten weary over a period of time and felt like, hey, I've waited 6 years, 7 years, 10 years, 15 years. I can't wait any longer. Some of them have not heard from their children and don't know what's going on in their children's lives because the children haven't been in contact. They don't come and see them. To stay in communication and in contact, to continue that relationship because it's hard to have a relationship with somebody that is in a prison that is sometimes hundreds of miles away. And even for me today, I had to drive three and a half hours to get here to this prison. I left home; it was it was still dark. It was four something in the morning. But then some of them. Man, they feel like God has given up on them because they feel like, hey, I'm, I'm doing all I can to try to reach heaven and heaven is not responding to me. But we know God hasn't given up on them, but they feel that way. And then sometimes some of them, they give up on themselves. I'm coming in today to speak to them about do not give up on you. Do not give up on you. No matter who has given up on you, don't you give up on yourself. Society has given up on you. Your wife has given up on you. Your children may have given up on you. The judicial system may have given up on you. Your appeals have been denied. But don't you give up on you. That's my message to them today. Do not give up on you. Work on you. Focus on you while you're incarcerated. Do the things that you know you need to do. Here's a, here's an officer here. I'll just show you that real quick. Here's an officer here. His job is to walk around the gate to make sure that there are no drugs or weapons or any type of contraband that has been smuggled around the gate or thrown around the gate or dropped off by a drone around the gate. His job is to also make sure that there's no breaches in security, like there's no holes or opening that's been cut in the gate around this prison. That's his job because inmates are always trying to smuggle contraband into the prison— drugs and weapons and phones, sometimes cash— and inmates are always trying to find a way to escape the prison. Now back on me. I'm telling them today, don't give up on you. Work on your mind while you're in prison. Work on and condition the way you think. Change your thought process while you're in prison. Continue to take care of yourself while you're in prison. Don't give up on you. Even though you got a 10-year sentence, 20-year sentence, 50-year sentence, don't give up on you. Because if you don't give up on you, one day a breakthrough will come your way. One day a door will open. One day a change will take place that will give you a second chance at life. And so I need you as an inmate to never give up on your possibility and your hope to be able to have a better life, to be able to go back in society and be reunited with your family. Never give up on your desire and your ambitions to one day live your dream. Never give up on your opportunity to be able to reproduce yourself, rebrand yourself, and reposition yourself so that when you come out of prison, you come out as a new man. That is totally re— just renewed in your mind, transformed in your life. Someone who is reinvigorated, someone who is reformed, and someone who has a reconditioned mindset. I know what, what it takes. I've been here. I've done that. I came out. It was almost 30 years ago when I was released from prison, and I came out as a changed man. And I know that if I can do it, others can do it too. So don't give up. Stay the course. Continue to work on you. And even though everyone else give up on you, don't you give up on you. Because sometimes you're all you got. And if you're all you got, I need you to believe in you, to support you, to love you. to forgive you, to be your best friend, and to never ever give up on you. This is Rico Sharp, Rico Sharp Motivations.
