RAY CURENTON @middlenameray - Tumblr Blog

people on here who have been on 10-15+ years like myself...i don't know how they claim that there were never any Black bloggers on here, or that it was always such a white website. trudy gradientlair was on here. thisiswhiteprivilege was on here. there was a feminist citation project sara ahmed was involved in on here. there was someone on here whose username was wretchedoftheearth and that was how i learned who fanon was when i was 12, by googling those words. tumblr was the only place i knew i could go to get accurate & compassionate info about what happened to trayvon martin, when everyone around me irl was rabidly racist. the amount of reportage and scholarship that happened on here before the first big wave of bans was so huge and so much has been lost. where were you when it was happening??? why weren't you paying attention??

thisiswhiteprivilege

we're still here by the way just living quietly cause of well the racism

librarycards

holy shit. hi. you changed my life. i'm really glad you're still here (and embarrassed i had no clue).

thisiswhiteprivilege

hi :)

Black bloggers are still doing incredible work btw. i've been particularly loving @creatingblackcharacters!

mushroomflood

Average night at the Wachowski’s

teaboot

YOOOOOO I JUST GOT MY FIRST LIBRARY CARD SINCE LIKE 2007 IT WAS SO EASY???

Like they literally just needed any photo ID with an address, I thought they needed like unopened mail and paperwork and crap, it took 5 goddamn minutes, I did it on my way home from work

And was NOBODY gonna tell me libraries have websites now with ebooks and audiobooks and documentaries and British TV and shit???

Why the FUCK have I been paying Netflix

GO GET A LIBRARY CARD

puffbirdstudio

One of the first things I did when I moved away from home and into my college town was locate the city library and see what I needed to do to get a card. Then I went to the library every week. It helped me feel connected to the community and feel a sense of place, which helped me get over my homesickness.

Seriously, check out your local library. They have SO MUCH STUFF besides books (especially these days).

unpretty

don't forget to install library extension in your browser of choice! when you look at books on amazon etc it will tell you whether they're available at your library in physical or digital form. i set my default to libby instead of overdrive and enabled showing when books were available on hoopla since my library has it.

gorgonsach

justgfy

Unions are trash. Theyll Destroy a whole company for firing a shitty worker.

gorgonsach

unions are the reason you aren’t paid 2.50 an hour with steel beams about to bust ya head open shut up lol

explorerrowan

Unions are why you have 5 day, 40 hour full-time work weeks. Unions are why they have to pay you in actual dollars instead of “company credits” that you can only spend at the company-owned stores. Unions are why there are fucking fire exits at your place of work. Unions are why it’s not okay for your supermarket ground beef to be any percentage human.

You think your company pays you out of the goodness of their hearts? Or even out of “market pressure?” The “job market” is a myth perpetuated by the capitalists. Corporations would pay you nothing if they could get away with it. And you argue “oh, but if they paid me nothing I’d just go to another one.” Wrong. Because to maximize profits, they all want to pay you nothing. Corporations exist to maximize profits while reducing risk for investors. It’s part of their entire function to find ways to cut costs as much as possible, and that includes finding ways to pay you nothing.

Unions are your defense against that. You think all a union does is strike? If you pay union dues, a lot of that is spent on lobbyists in various governments reminding your lawmakers that you have rights as a living human being that a corporation should not be able to stomp all over. Unions hire lawyers so that if you’re fired for bullshit reasons, the union can stand up for you against your boss. They’re called unions because workers are uniting to pool resources so that they can stand up to these corporate overlords with more money than God. Unions exist because you might not have the words, resources, or time to fight workplace injustices all by yourself. That’s the whole fucking point.

And if a business shuts down because a union is striking, it’s because the business was abusing people and didn’t deserve to be in business anyway. Don’t make excuses for the corporations. They already have trillions of dollars and a couple million lawyers to do that for themselves. They don’t need your help.

mierac

The erasure of labor history from US history curriculum has caused so much fucking damage to this country.

cheeseanonioncrisps

Bosses: If you don’t like how we do things, don’t work here.

Workers: *Go on strike*

Bosses: Wait no not like that

defilerwyrm

A lot of union folk very literally fought and died for the workers’ rights we have today. Like no joke, bosses would hire goons to straight-up murder unionizing and striking workers.

All the most basic workers’ rights we have today were all paid for in blood. And conservatives have never stopped trying to take them all away again.

disease-danger-darkness-silence

NEVER FORGET THAT LABOR DAY IS ACTUALLY ABOUT. I know people who legitimately think it’s like a secondary mothers day - you know, for going into labor.

But it’s about workers rights and the people who campaigned for it to be a holiday knew this fucking day would come.

If you are in the US and about to celebrate a 3-day weekend, thank a goddamn union worker.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 31, 2025

Ray Curenton Bridges Indie Folk and R&B on New Album Ripples of the Past, Out September 12

Now available for pre-order on Bandcamp and iTunes; pre-add on Apple Music

NASHVILLE, TN – Independent singer-songwriter and cultural worker Ray Curenton announces the release of his new full-length album, Ripples of the Past, arriving September 12, 2025, on all major platforms. The artist’s first foray into indie folk, Ripples of the Past is Curenton’s most vulnerable and sonically arresting work to date—a contemplative memoir-in-song that examines how childhood and adolescent memories echo through adulthood.

The album is now available for pre-order on Bandcamp and iTunes, and available to pre-add on Apple Music.

With minimalist production from Nashville producer and engineer Brandon Adams, Ripples of the Past marks a thoughtful departure for Curenton, who has honed his voice over the years through pop, R&B, and gospel music. On Ripples, the artist embraces a more organic, folk-inflected sound that feels like a truer reflection of his artistic voice, blending warm acoustic textures, lowkey arrangements, and lyrical intimacy with Curenton’s signature layered harmonies. The result is emotionally rich, spiritually reflective storytelling that will resonate with fans of Sufjan Stevens, Iron & Wine, and Moses Sumney.

“These songs are reflections on people and moments I’ve carried for years,” Curenton shares. “They’re the moments that shaped my understanding of love, loss, and who I am becoming. Writing this album was like going to therapy—in the process, I have made much more sense of my life and history than I ever thought was possible through songwriting.”

The album is structured in three acts: Age of Minority, Age of Maturity, and Age of Majority—tracing formative experiences across childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Standout singles “Ground Zero”, “Once Familiar Friend,” and “NFC” each unpack pivotal memories with both narrative intimacy and poetic restraint.

Ripples of the Past is a body of work that feels meditative yet immediate—music for deep listeners seeking substance, stillness, and solace.

Tracklist:

Of Framingham

Ground Zero

NFC

Is That Alright?

Once Familiar Friend

Happiness

Unreliable Narrator

Sandpaper

The Year That Changed Everything

Ripples of the Past

For One, For All

Ripples of the Past will be available on streaming outlets everywhere September 12, with digital and limited edition CD formats available via Bandcamp. CD includes a 12-page booklet with full album lyrics and notes from the artist.

For fans of acoustic soul, introspective folk, and deeply personal but inviting storytelling, Ripples of the Past is a quietly revelatory listen—a soft-spoken but deeply felt meditation on memory, healing, and the lifelong work of becoming whole.

PRESS CONTACT & ADVANCE COPIES:

[email protected]

LINKS & SOCIAL:

Website: http://raycurenton.com/

Instagram: @raycurenton

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RayCurenton

TikTok: @raycurenton

Bandcamp: https://raycurenton.bandcamp.com/

#ripples of the past #press release

Ray Curenton - Killing Me Softly with His Song (Roberta Flack cover)

Always and forever grateful for her music and her artistry.

#roberta flack #cover #acoustic #soul jazz #rip roberta flack #killing me softly #the fugees #lauryn hill

20genderchild

Pre-save the song: https://raycurenton.com

#folk soul #acoustic #new Nashville

Presave “NFC,” dropping Friday, May 9, at raycurenton.com

#singersongwriter #harmony #nashville

NFC.

5/9.

Pre-save at raycurenton.com

#indie folk #acoustic #noai

pinkmanapologist

Please I want all ur thoughts on hank

omg okay hi. I have so many thoughts about Hank that I don't think I've ever properly articulated lol but in short i absolutely hate that man!!! So many people will be like "hate him or love him you have to admit he was a good cop" and honestly I have to laugh! Is this "good cop" in the room with us right now? he literally allowed his entire office phone line to get tapped bc he was so uncomfortable with his cancer stricken brother in law crying in front of him that he physically had to leave the room. he had every indication that something fucking weird was happening with Walt right under his nose for like 4 whole seasons and did absolutely nothing to investigate that further until the information was literally handed to him by Walt's carelessness. When he's first in his new position and visiting that suspected cartel member with his new team, he is basically like "omg I'm trying to clock into my shift at the heinously racist cop factory and these other guys aren't letting me :⁠'⁠("

and even all racism and bigotry aside he still pisses me off. One of the worst things is when he's down on his luck, narrowly escaped death but still paralyzed and Marie is trying her best to take care of him and he's just fucking awful to her. Acting like a pathetic sad sack when something bad happens must run in the family bc that's actually exactly how Walt is too! He's so needlessly cruel to Marie when she's literally managing everything for him and it's pretty repulsive haha. And in the end when Jesse is finally helping him get Walt, he basically tells Gomez "I don't care if Pinkman has to die, the only thing that matters is getting Walter" and even Gomey himself is just kind of like ummm ok then lol bc he knows how bad it sounds. Hank at the end of the day is just as self centered and power hungry as Walt. He arguably kills and hurts even more people than Walt has, but he's protected under the guise of 'just doing his job' and even celebrated for it at times lol. I mean he literally beats Jesse within inches of his life just based on a suspicion! He's unhinged!! haha I could go on and on but I will spare you. I will say this - one of the only cool things Walter ever did was making that tape and sending it to Hank to extort him. He really said ACAB especially my stupid fucking brother in law and I have to respect that attitude.

NFC: the need for closure refers to an individual’s desire for a definitive answer or clarity on a subject, as opposed to ambiguity or uncertainty. A sense of closure is not usually possible with ambiguous loss, such as a missing person. When people most need closure it is usually because the termination of the event is significant to them, holding particular value and meaning. The need for closure scale measures the degree to which a person has that desire.

NFC is available everywhere May 9. Pre-save at raycurenton.com

#nfc #singersongwriter #closure #indie folk

bklynmusicnerd

Two weeks in and what I love the most about Beyond The Gates is that it's a soap that fully embraces being a soap. They're not trying to subvert classic soap tropes. They're running straight into them and reminding everyone why said tropes were classics in the first place.

The balance of freshness and throwback in the writing has been handled really well and makes the whole viewing experience a lot more fun. It's just a blast to watch the fresh Dupree family be put through their classic soap paces. There's a tongue in cheek element there that I'm really enjoying.

It also highlights what a lot of the other American soaps lost trying to shield certain characters from consequences and drag out plot until they couldn't anymore. It's nice to actually be reminded that soaps are supposed to be fun by default.