As part of the linked article, it was revealed that many people who are not white, or not male, but who were prominent and very qualified to speak, and availabl

As part of the linked article, it was revealed that many people who are not white, or not male, but who were prominent and very qualified to speak, and available to speak, simply weren't invited in the initial list of 15. In other words, they sat down to draw up a list, and out of a large and diverse community of Rubyists, invited only the white male ones. No one is saying they did it consciously or deliberately, but they did it, and got some push back on it, and /ragequit their own conference. So, no, you wouldn't have been given the opportunity to talk. (And btw, fuck you for the phrase "white people's collective guilt" ;)