Editing Nation of Islam (section)

=== Economic and educational independence ===

[[File:YBMB2.jpg|thumb|right|The interior of a Nation-owned bakery in Oakland, California]]
Espousing [[economic nationalism]],{{sfn|Barnett|2006|p=884}} the Nation follows the ideas of earlier thinkers like [[Booker T. Washington]] and Marcus Garvey in emphasizing the construction of African American infrastructure as a means of community empowerment.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=318}} The Nation has created many companies,{{sfn|Barnett|2006|p=884}} including the Salaam restaurant chain, the Shabazz bakeries, the Fashahnn Islamic clothing range, the Clean 'N Fresh skin and haircare products, and Abundant Life Clinics.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=318}} It also owns a mall in [[Chicago]] and clothing stores and food markets.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=318}} These businesses provide income for the NOI and help tackle African American unemployment.{{sfn|Potorti|2017|pp=76-77}}

Since the 1980s, the Nation has also sought government contracts,{{sfn|Allen|1996|p=19}} and in 1988, it established the Security Agency Incorporated to provide FOI patrols for clients.{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=304|2a1=Tinaz|2y=1996|2pp=202–203}} In 1985 it launched its POWER (People Organized and Working for Economic Rebirth) project, designed to redirect black [[purchasing power]] toward black-owned businesses.{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=319|2a1=Tinaz|2y=1996|2p=201}} It also seeks the collective economic advancement of African Americans through individual achievement;{{sfn|Akom|2003|p=307}} various women members created their own businesses, sometimes run from the home.{{sfn|West|1996|p=45}}
Some of its African-American [[Anti-capitalism|anti-capitalist]] critics have derided the Nation's economic approach as [[black capitalism]].{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=321|2a1=Barnett|2y=2006|2p=884}} Farrakhan has responded that while [[socialism]] appeals to him, capitalism is the only feasible road to economic empowerment for African-Americans.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=321}}

The Nation prioritises land ownership to increase food production and autonomy for African Americans;{{sfn|McCutcheon|2013b|p=575}} a commonly used slogan among the NOI is that "The farm is the engine of our national life."{{sfn|McCutcheon|2013|p=61}} It established a farm in [[White Cloud, Michigan]] in 1947,{{sfn|Potorti|2017|p=76}} and by the early 1970s owned 20,000 acres of farm land in Michigan, Alabama, and Georgia.{{sfn|Allen|1996|p=14}} In 1994 Farrakhan's Nation purchased 1,556 acres of rural South Georgia near [[Bronwood, Georgia|Bronwood]], naming it [[Muhammad Farms]].{{sfnm|1a1=McCutcheon|1y=2013|1p=62|2a1=McCutcheon|2y=2013b|2p=572}} Much of the produce grown here is distributed to NOI mosques around the country.{{sfnm|1a1=McCutcheon|1y=2013|1p=65|2a1=McCutcheon|2y=2013b|2p=575}} NOI members also own urban gardens in various U.S. cities.{{sfn|McCutcheon|2013|p=62}}

In 1991, the Nation launched its Three Year Economic Savings Plan, asking followers to send them $10 a month over the three years, money that would collectively allow the group to buy more farmland.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=320}} For the Nation, acquiring land and growing food is regarded as a means of building [[self-determination]] for African Americans.{{sfn|McCutcheon|2013|p=62}} It hopes to establish a system of black-owned farms through which to feed 40 million black people,{{sfn|McCutcheon|2013|p=62}} with the stated aim of providing at least one healthy meal a day for every African American.{{sfnm|1a1=McCutcheon|1y=2013|1p=65|2a1=McCutcheon|2y=2013b|2p=575}}

The NOI is highly critical of the U.S. school system, believing that, by being [[Eurocentrism|Eurocentric]] in its focus and concealing the achievement of non-white societies, it perpetuates white supremacy. To this end, the Nation has established its own educational system.{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1pp=61, 323|2a1=Barnett|2y=2006|2p=880}} Across the U.S. it has established Muhammad Universities of Islam; most of these are elementary schools, although a few also offer secondary education.{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1p=323|2a1=Barnett|2y=2006|2p=880}} These emphasize science, mathematics, black history, Arabic, and NOI doctrine;{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=61}} Farrakhan has said that they need to provide black children with "an education to make them Gods".{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=322}} In these schools, boys and girls are taught separately;{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=1996|1pp=61, 324|2a1=Barnett|2y=2006|2p=880}} pupils are only given two weeks of vacation each year.{{sfn|Gardell|1996|p=61}} Combating the idea that academic achievement entails "acting white", the Nation has sought to associate hard work in school with pride in being black.{{sfn|Akom|2003|p=313}} As well as African-American pupils, some of these schools have also accepted students from Latino, Asian, and Pacific Island communities.{{sfn|Akom|2007|p=721}}