For a Free America
Jackson Hinkle
Abstract
This article, For a Free America: Speech at the 1st National Convention of the ACP, presents Jackson Hinkle’s address to the founding gathering of the American Communist Party (ACP), outlining the Party’s patriotic, working-class vision for national renewal. Framing the ACP as the authentic representative of the American people against the twin corruption of liberalism and conservatism, Hinkle advances a populist Marxist-Leninist message centered on the slogan “America Only.” He argues that the moral and material decay of U.S. society stems from an oligarchic ruling class that prioritizes imperial wars and foreign aid over the welfare of its own citizens. Through examples such as the ACP’s hurricane relief initiatives, Hinkle highlights how Communist organizing grounded in community service can restore dignity, solidarity, and civic virtue to American life. Rejecting sectarianism and ideological purism, he emphasizes that the Party’s strength lies in its inclusivity — uniting Americans of diverse faiths, backgrounds, and regions around shared economic and social struggles. In contrast to the divisive identity politics and partisan manipulation of the existing system, Hinkle calls for a genuinely free America: one liberated from corporate power, foreign entanglements, and class oppression. His speech situates the ACP within the broader global movement toward multipolarity and anti-imperialism, asserting that American socialism must be both patriotic and internationalist.
Keywords
Marxism–Leninism, American patriotism, anti-imperialism, working-class unity, national renewal, Jackson Hinkle
