View source for ACT UP—Aids Coalition to Release Power.

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(All information taken from the ACT UP NY website. http://www.actupny.org/indexfolder/NYC.html)

ACT UP was first formed in New York in March of 1987 as a diverse, non-partisan group of individuals united in anger and committed to direct action to end the AIDS crisis.
ACT UP was founded so that real-world knowledge about the needed changes to end the crisis could be made known to the public and no longer ignored. (help-rephrase)

Because of the immensity of the task of ending the AIDS crisis ACT UP is run openly and democratically. ACT UP considers every one of its members a leader. Therefore every member holds the same amount of power within the organization. Thus the ACT UP program has no president or Board of Directors. 

ACT UP is comprised solely of volunteers who attend general meetings on the first and third Mondays of every month. These Monday night meetings are described as heated, emotional, tedious, frustrating, extremely confusing and overwhelming especially for new members. Meetings are open to the floor because the organization is based on and around what their members have to say because in one way or another we are all living with AIDS.

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In the last 17 years ACT UP has formed and monitored an affinity group labeled YELL (Youth Education Life Line). This group was formed to work on AIDS issues facing young people, especially AIDS education because half of all new HIV infections occur in youths younger than age 25. In recent years YELL has raised public awareness about AIDS education in the public schools and advocated a comprehensive, reality-based approach to HIV prevention for young people.