Albert Murray (born May 12, 1916, Nokomis, Alabama, U.S.—died August 18, 2013, Harlem, New York) was an African American essayist, critic, and novelist whose writings assert the vitality and the powerful influence of black people in forming American traditions. Murray attended Tuskegee Institute (B.S., 1939; later Tuskegee University) and New York University (M.A., 1948); he also taught at Tuskegee. In 1943 he entered the U.S. Air Force (known then as the U.S. Army Air Forces), from which he retired as a major in 1962. Murray’s first collection of essays, The Omni-Americans: New Perspectives on Black Experience and American Culture (1970), used historical fact, literature, and music to attack false perceptions of black American life. Murray also cowrote Count Basie’s autobiography, Good Morning Blues (1985), and was active in the creation of the concert series Jazz at Lincoln Center. Thank you for your contributions, rest in peace.
