How to call the White House about Standing Rock

It's disillusioning and painful to watch the news come in about the water protectors at Standing Rock: that police have used mace, rubber bullets, water guns and tear gas against them (a United Nations human rights expert has condemned this use of "excessive force"); that the government is putting private interests before public ones; and that the president and other officials have failed to support and protect the water protectors.Things are starting to feel especially dire, especially since the Army Corps of Engineers gave an eviction notice for protesters that goes into effect on Monday. Luckily, there are some ways you can help. They range from making a donation to the protesters' legal defense fund, to signing petitions. But one of the simplest ways you can oppose DAPL is by making a phone call. There are numerous people and organizations you can contact to voice your concerns, but one of them is President Obama. Yes, you can call the White House. I'd heard this before and, even though I knew it wouldn't be the president himself picking up the phone, I'd felt nervous and intimidated. But I also felt it was incredibly important, and so today, I did make the call. If you have any hesitations about doing the same, or if you're unsure of how to go about it, here's a step-by-step guide to calling the White House.

1. Get your spiel ready. It doesn't have to be long--just a sentence or two is perfect. I used this article to help me figure out what to say.
2. Dial the number. That same article listed two numbers for the White House: (202) 456-1111 (White House Public Line) and (202) 456-1414 (White House Switchboard). When I dialed the first, I only got a busy signal. But when I dialed the second, someone picked up pretty quickly and just said, "White House"...
3. Don't panic! Just "White House"? What were they expecting of me? What if this was actually a line for important people. No matter, I took a deep breath and immediately gave my spiel.
4. Give your spiel. I started by telling the mysterious person on the other end of the line my name and where I was from. Then I said something along the lines of, "I'm calling to urge President Obama to rescind the Army Corps of Engineers' permit for the Dakota Access Pipeline." You could say any number of iterations of this sentence, or you could urge Obama to put a stop to the violent methods being used against water protectors.
5. Get ready to be transferred. The number I called was not the comments line, but a general White House operator who said, "please hold" after I said what I'd wanted to say. I then was transferred to the White House comments hotline (the first number, from which I'd gotten a busy signal).
6. Stay on the line! After giving you a few options, a robot voice will say, "To speak to an operator, stay on the line." That's exactly what you should do.
7. Stay on the line again! You'll probably be put on hold, with only bad elevator-style music to keep you company. I pulled out some reading while I was on hold, but even so, the wait didn't last more than ten minutes.
8. Make your comment! An operator will come on the line and ask if they can take your "brief" comment. Say exactly what you said before. Then, you'll here some typing, as they presumably copy down what you said. The person I spoke to was incredibly nice. After I thanked her for taking my comment, she very cheerily thanked me for calling. So basically, the whole thing wasn't so scary after all.

Good luck with your White House chat, and don't forget that there are other numbers you can call as well. Once you make your comment for the President, these should seem like a piece of cake.Image via.