Re-evaluate this lecture series

Tlhalo: The problem is not in us, Marianne Thamm, it is in our stars, "Alice Walker is an empress who has no clothes" (September 19).

We have elevated writers and trifling academics to lodestars, and they turn out to be little more than sellers of themselves.

The quality of this lecture series needs to be re-evaluated, as should the speakers. Since the seminal "Iphi'ndlela?" by Njabulo S Ndebele, which lecture (aside from Mamphele Ramphela's) has sought to stay true to the rhythms and cadences of Steve Bantu Biko's thinking?

Achebe made me reflect, Tutu did well, Mbeki sold his ideas, but the rest, with respect, have been pathetic.

Where is Pitika Ntuli, Zodwa Motsa and Aidoo in this roll call? Where, indeed, is the incomparable Ntongela Masilela? We peddle sold-out luminaries for show in the name of the dead. How quaint!

Your response is an eloquent response to what Ndebele calls rehearsed postures of conviction.