Cameron Boyce, Disney Channel actor and rising star, passed away on Sunday at the age of 20. Upon news of his death, his grandmother Jo Ann Boyce has re-entered the limelight for her role in a historic feat in The Jim Crow South. 

According to a statement from Cameron's family, the Jessie thespian suffered from an "ongoing medical condition" from which he was receiving treatment for.

"It is with a profoundly heavy heart that we report that this morning we lost Cameron," a representative for the Boyce family said in a statement released shortly after his death. "He passed away in his sleep due to a seizure which was a result of an ongoing medical condition for which he was being treated. The world is now undoubtedly without one of its brightest lights, but his spirit will live on through the kindness and compassion of all who knew and loved him. We are utterly heartbroken and ask for privacy during this immensely difficult time as we grieve the loss of our precious son and brother."

Long before Cameron dazzled audiences on-screen, his grandmother was a renegade in her own regard.

In 1956, one year before the Little Rock 9, a group of children referred to as the "Clinton 12" made headlines for becoming the first group of Black students to attend Clinton High School in Tennessee. Jo Ann was only 14 at the time of that historical feat.

"She had to be so brave. She had to face death threats, berating and violence just to go to school. She’s a hero – they’re all heroes," Heavy reports Cameron said of his paternal grandmother. 

"We had no idea that this would have a historical impact," Jo Ann said to The Washington Post in February. 

In December of the same year, Jo Ann's father moved their entire family from Tennessee to Los Angeles, California where she graduated high school and obtained a bachelor's degree in nursing from Los Angeles City College. Jo Ann then worked as a registered nurse at the Children's Hospital Los Angeles for three decades before retiring from the profession. 

Loosely based on her real-life experience of desegregating Clinton High School, Jo Ann's children's book titled This Promise of Change: One Girl’s Story in the Fight for School Equality was released earlier this year. Per Heavy, the piece was awarded the 2019 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Nonfiction.

Cameron paid homage to his grandmother earlier this year during Black History Month, taking audiences back to Clinton High School and sharing sentiments about his grandmother's plight. The segment featured the entire Boyce family, including parents Victor and Libby and the actor's sister Maya. 

In just a short time, Cameron had a memorable impact that will not be forgotten for years to come.

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