Students from Mastery Charter Schools’ Shoemaker Campus participated in a high school graduation ceremony at Irvine Auditorium in West Philadelphia this week.

The key note speaker, introduced by class salutatorian Mizan Jeter, was noted best-selling author, rapper and film maker, MK Asante.

Asante is a tenured professor of creative writing and film at Morgan State University. He urged the graduating class of 2016 to see themselves as forces for positive change within their communities, and to inspire younger students to be the same.

“Your success is our success,” he said Thursday. “You must learn to transform your observations into Obligations. If you make an observation, then you have an obligation.”

The Shoemaker graduating class of 2016 is part of Mastery’s network of 726 graduates from Lenfest, Gratz, Pickett and Thomas schools who collectively earned over $28 million in scholarships. Many of them will go on to colleges, universities, trade schools or serve their country in the military.

The principal of Shoemaker, Sharif El Mekki, is the founder of Black Male Educator’s Convening, a group that recruits African-American men into the teaching profession. He urged students to constantly ask themselves about the well-being of their communities.

“As you enter your next chapter of your lives, make sure that continuing to educate yourself about the world, about your community, and about yourself, is paramount,” he said. “You are always responsible for the well-being of your community.”

Mastery Charter Schools and Mastery Schools of Camden form a non-profit school network serving over 12,000 students in grades K-12.

“These students have a great deal to be proud of,” said Scott Gordon, CEO of Mastery Charter Schools. “This is a great day for them and very inspiring for all of us.”