I haven't seen anyone else talk about it but Cameron Boyce's grandmother, Jo Ann Allen Boyce had passed away a couple days ago due to pancreatic cancer. She was 84.
Aside from being Cameron's grandmother, she was known for being a member of the "Clinton 12"; twelve black students who integrated Clinton High School in Tennessee in 1956. They were the first black students to attend a public high school in the south after Brown v. Board of Education while facing violent threats, protests, and a school bombing two years later in 1958. Her family pulled her from the school and moved to Los Angeles, but even so, Jo Ann had wanted to stay at Clinton and stayed optimistic. She was even elected as vice-president in her homeroom class.
After graduating, Jo Ann became a pediatric nurse and spoke about her experiences at Clinton at other schools, and would go on to form a singing group with her sister and cousin. Jo Ann also wrote a book about her experiences at Clinton and released a few poems as well.
I just wanted to take the time to commemorate Jo Ann and her legacy. May she rest in peace, may she never be forgotten.
