Recent high school grad, local filmmaker team up to create documentary exploring "school to prison" pipeline

MINNEAPOLIS -- A recent Benilde-St. Margaret High School grad is on a mission to change the future for Black youth.

Emani Labon, with the help of independent filmmaker Taylour Alexandria, has spent nearly the last year examining the troubling "school to prison" pipeline and how Black youth are disproportionately treated and criminalized compared to their white counterparts.

"We want things to change for Black students because we care so much," Labon said.

"In general Black kids just don't get listened to, they don't get to say their feelings, it's just, 'you're a bad kid, you got suspended,' or 'here's the police officer,'" said Alexandria. "It's just cut off right away."

This is a reality that Labon said she experienced growing up.

"Just the adultifying in the classroom," Labon said. "I've been picked on. I've been criminalized specifically."

It's a reality that she said sends too many Black youth down the path to a bleak future.

"Statistics show that Black students are criminalized more and that gateway can lead, especially Black students, to poverty and to prison," she said.

So nearly a year ago, she set out to change that future by creating new documentary called "Thugs: Criminalization of Black Youth."

"We want to take that title and debunk it and say this is not how Black youth are," she said.

She and Alexandria set out to listen to the different voices and stories from different perspectives including activists, lawyers, educators – and those who've been in the pipeline.

"We tried to get a variety of different races, of different ages, of different background," said Alexandria.

The documentary highlights the story of Myon Burrell.

At just 16 years old Burrell was convicted in 2003 and again in 2008 for the murder of 11-year-old Tyesha Edwards. He was sentenced to life in prison. Through it all, he always maintained his innocence.

"Every day I woke up and I asked myself how was I in prison for a crime that I didn't commit," Burrell said.

He spent 18 years behind bars. In 2020 his sentence was commuted and he walked free following several reports that raised questions about how investigators handled his case. He said he hopes by sharing his story in the documentary, it will help close the pipeline.

"Taking my story and taking what I went through and showing my people that, 'No I'm you, you're me. I'm your child. The same thing that happened to me is going to happen to your child if we don't stop it right now,'" Burrell explained.

"Black youth, we are innocent," Labon said. "We are children, we love we care. We deserved to be loved as much as a white peer does."

They hope to start an important conversation for change that is long overdue and far from over.

"This is a marathon and right now what we're doing is just a sprint," Labon said. "This will take a while, but I think we're stepping in the right direction."

The documentary debuts July 15 at the Capri Theatre in North Minneapolis.

For more information on how to register to attend, click here