ACT UP

(noun)

The AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power; an advocacy group for people with AIDS and HIV-related illnesses founded in 1987 on the premise of direct action; best known for its dramatic protests during the peak of the AIDS crisis in the late 80s and early 90s. 

Related Terms

Examples of ACT UP in the following topics:

  • How Skeletal Muscles Produce Movements

    • During extension, the triceps act as the agonist while the biceps act as the antagonist.
    • During flexing of the forearm the biceps brachii is the agonist muscle, pulling the forearm up towards the shoulder.
    • During flexing of the forearm, the triceps brachii is the antagonist muscle, resisting the movement of the forearm up towards the shoulder.
    • During flexing of the forearm, the brachioradialis and brachialis act as synergist muscles, aiding the biceps brachii in pulling the forearm up towards the shoulder.
    • The triceps brachii (not shown) acts as the antagonist.

  • The Tariff

    • The United States Revenue Act of 1913 re-imposed the federal income tax, and lowered basic tariff rates from 40% to 25%.
    • The United States Revenue Act of 1913 (also known as the Tariff Act, Underwood Tariff or Underwood-Simmons Act) re-imposed the federal income tax following the ratification of the Sixteenth Amendment.
    • Contemporaries considered the Revenue Act a political triumph for Wilson.
    • The 1913 Act established the lowest rates since the Walker Tariff of 1857.
    • Congress rejected proposals for a tariff board to scientifically fix rates, but did set up a study commission to monitor them.

  • Tax Protests

    • The first wave of protests attacked the Stamp Act of 1765, and marked the first time Americans from each of the thirteen colonies met together and planned a common front against illegal taxes.
    • The Parliament attempted a series of taxes and punishments which met more and more resistance, namely the First Quartering Act (1765), the Declaratory Act (1766), the Townshend Revenue Act (1767), and the Tea Act (1773).
    • In response to the Boston Tea Party Parliament passed the Intolerable Acts: the Second Quartering Act (1774), the Quebec Act (1774), the Massachusetts Government Act (1774), the Administration of Justice Act (1774), the Boston Port Act (1774), and the Prohibitory Act (1775).
    • By this point, the 13 colonies had organized themselves into the Continental Congress and began setting up shadow governments and drilling their militia in preparation for war.

  • Enforcing the Navigation Acts

    • In some instances, British colonists and foreign merchants subverted the Act; for example, in the West Indies, the Dutch kept up a flourishing "smuggling" trade due to the preference of English planters for Dutch goods and the better deal the Dutch offered in the sugar trade.
    • Later revisions of the Act added new regulations.
    • The Acts were in full force for a short time only.
    • On the whole, the Navigation Acts were more or less obeyed by colonists, despite their dissatisfaction, until the Molasses and Sugar Acts.
    • Describe the central stipulations of the Navigation Acts and the Acts' effects on the political and economic situation in the colonies

  • The Dawes Act and Indian Land Allotment

    • The Dawes Act, also called General Allotment Act, or Dawes Severalty Act of 1887, adopted by Congress in 1887, authorized the President of the United States to survey Indian tribal land and divide it into allotments for individual Indians.
    • The Dawes Act was amended in 1891 and again in 1906 by the Burke Act.
    • The Dawes Act was named for its sponsor, Senator Henry L.
    • The act also provided that the government would purchase Indian land "excess" to that needed for allotment and open it up for settlement by non-Indians.
    • The Dawes Commission, set up under an Indian Office appropriation bill in 1893, was created, not to administer the Dawes Act, but to attempt to get the Five Civilized Tribes, which were excluded under the Dawes Act, to agree to an allotment plan.

  • American Indian Policy

    • The lands that natives resided on, Nebraska and Kansas territories, ended up being taken from the natives by the government and given to settlers.
    • The Dawes Act was amended in 1891 and again in 1906 by the Burke Act.
    • The Dawes Act was named for its sponsor, Senator Henry L.
    • The act also provided that the government would purchase Indian land "excess" to that needed for allotment and open it up for settlement by non-Indians.
    • The Dawes Commission, set up under an Indian Office appropriation bill in 1893, was created, not to administer the Dawes Act, but to attempt to get the Five Civilized Tribes, which were excluded under the Dawes Act, to agree to an allotment plan.

  • Protecting Whistleblowers

    • The Lloyd-La Follette Act of 1912 guaranteed the right of federal employees to furnish information to Congress.
    • The first US environmental law to include employee protection was the Clean Water Act of 1972.
    • Similar protections were included in subsequent federal environmental laws including the Safe Drinking water Act (1974), Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, and the Clean Air Act (1990) .
    • Those who report a false claim against the federal government and as a result suffer adverse employment actions may have up to six years to file a civil suit for remedies under the US False Claims Act.
    • Federal employees could benefit from the Whistleblower Protection Act as well as the No-Fear Act, which made individual agencies directly responsible for the economic sanctions of unlawful retaliation.

  • Conclusion: The Consequences of the British Parliamentary Acts

    • Outrage over the act created a degree of unity among otherwise unconnected American colonists, giving them a chance to act together both politically and socially.
    • Colonists’ joy over the repeal of the Stamp Act did not last long.
    • Like the Stamp Act, the Townshend Acts led many colonists to work together against what they perceived to be an unconstitutional measure.
    • The Tea Act of 1773 triggered a reaction with far more significant consequences than either the 1765 Stamp Act or the 1767 Townshend Acts.
    • Image (b) provides a close-up of a one-penny stamp.

  • Chinese Exclusion and Chinese Rights

    • The Chinese Exclusion Act was a United States federal law signed by Chester A.
    • After being forcibly driven from the mines, most Chinese settled in enclaves in cities, mainly San Francisco, and took up low end wage labor such as restaurant work and laundry just to earn enough to live.
    • The Act also affected Asians who had already settled in the United States.
    • The Scott Act (1888) expanded upon the Chinese Exclusion Act, prohibiting reentry after leaving the U.S.
    • The Act was renewed for ten years by the 1892 Geary Act , and again with no terminal date in 1902.

  • The No Child Left Behind Act

    • The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) is a United States Act of Congress that is a reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which included Title I, the government's flagship aid program for disadvantaged students.
    • The Act requires states to develop assessments in basic skills.
    • The standards in the act are set by each individual state.
    • The yearly standardized tests are the main means of determining whether schools are living up to the standards that they are required to meet.
    • The system of incentives and penalties sets up a strong motivation for schools, districts and states to manipulate test results.