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Jo Ann Allen Boyce, civil rights pioneer and actor Cameron Boyce’s grandmother, dies at 84
Jo Ann Allen Boyce, one of the “Clinton 12” who helped desegregate schools in the South and actor Cameron Boyce’s grandmother, passed away at the age of 84.
She died at her home in California on Dec. 3 after a battle with pancreatic cancer, and was accompanied by family, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.
Boyce was a brave and leading one in the civil rights movement who graduated from Clinton High School, the first integrated public high school in the South, after the 1954 Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education that mandated desegregation.
Jo Ann Allen Boyce remembered with her own sculpture and loving tributes
At the Green McAdoo Cultural Center in Clinton, Tennessee, there are now life-size sculptures of the 12 students known as the “Clinton 12” including Jo Ann Allen Boyce, who courageously faced the school integration and received a strong backlash but were still able to go to school amid verbal and physical harassment on a daily basis.
The center honored her with these words: “We have lost a very caring and humble person. People who met her couldn’t believe it and were totally thankful for her kindness. One student so touched by her story that they cried when they met her, and Jo Ann immediately gave them a comforting hug.”
“Jo Ann was a source of inspiration to everyone she came in contact with,” the statement went on. “We are having a very difficult day here. We extend our love and support to the Boyce family.”
Cameron Boyce remembered his grandmother Jo Ann Allen Boyce through her influence
In the interview with PEOPLE, Cameron Boyce, his mom and dad were talking about how he would have done the interview if he were alive, said how his grandma Jo Ann Allen Boyce’s was the most inspiring story he ever heard. After that, he said she really inspired him.
“My Nana was very firm in her beliefs and ended up doing something incredible,” he explained. “Life is going to throw things at you, and you will have to face trials, but if you choose to mature and learn from those experiences, then you become a better person because of it.”
Life changes Jo Ann Allen Boyce from Tennessee to L.A. and thinks back to Clinton High
Due to escalating violence and assaults, Jo Ann Allen Boyce and her family had to quit Tennessee and move to Los Angeles in 1957. Even though her father, Herbert Allen, acknowledged the difficulties, he told the reporters: “We are not going out of here with the hatred in our hearts against anybody.”
Two out of the twelve students only made it to graduation from Clinton High. The story of Jo Ann was covered by the short film series Be Inspired, which aired on Disney Channel and Disney XD.
The following year, Jo Ann came back to Clinton High with her family and shared the memory in an interview, calling it “family reunion,” “overwhelming,” and “emotional.” She said, “I can recall the times when my friends and I would descend the hill together.”
Jo Ann Allen Boyce and her reflection on her family’s hopes and the tribute of Cameron Boyce
Jo Ann Allen Boyce reflected on the hopes of her family and fellow students: “We, all of us, our parents, every single student that walked down the hill with me, parents of all of us, were all wanting us to do better.”
She further said, “They wanted us to have better opportunities, so education was the first thing for them. They told us, ‘It will be hard, but you guys go ahead. We are with you.’”
Before his passing, Cameron Boyce, in an interview with Haute Living in May 2019, acknowledged his grandmother as the one who inspired his giving back commitment. “There has always been a long line of ‘difference makers’ in my family. I am only doing what my ancestors did. They were strong men and women who showed me what it means to give back; it is the best way to make yourself happy,” he said.
