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Bonnie's story is about a young woman who wanted to make a difference in the community she was born and raised in, called Bolingbrook, IL. Her story of political survival demonstrates how one person, and one voice, can rise and take on national speed, becoming the symbol of "American Hope".
Bonnie first entered politics at the age of 30. Her hometown had a Mayor that was in office for 22 years, was the Republican County Chair, and held a million-dollar war chest. He was known for his intimidation tactics and full control over 5 boards of elected officials. Nobody had run against any of his board choices in twenty-two years. Bonnie did not care about money or titles. She was a mild-mannered college professor with an infant and a firm belief in the Constitution and democracy. She felt people needed a choice. Since there was no competition in the town, there was no desire for the administration to change or do better.
She launched her Mayoral Bid as an Independent. During this rough election, she learned a lot of hard lessons. First, they launched to remove her from the ballot claiming her signatures were invalid. A hearing was set. When she arrived, she found that the person who objected was not even present, and the impartial board was none other than the current Mayors republican slate. There was nothing she could do about the removal due to corruption in the system, so she ran as a write-in candidate.
WIN SOME LOSE SOME, BUT ANY WIN IS A WIN: She demonstrated her fight and determination and in a shockingly close race, succeeded to the current Mayor. Still today, she has the highest write-in votes in the state at 38% of votes, and it taught the Republican establishment how fickle their support really was. It also taught her this quote, 'If you never have enemies, it is because you never fought for something you believed in." That year Bonnie had made many enemies.
In 2011, Bonnie registered again, this time as an Independent for Trustee. She knew the past two years were tough, as the Mayor and his minions, held grudges. (This went on until this day.) Bonnie was proud of her 2009 run. After her run, other people started stepping up and talking about running for office. So, this time she ran as the enemy of the administration, knowing they would gun for her and forget about the other candidates. Her strategy worked. She stayed in the race until the last minute possible to drop out, and then supported the other candidates.
WIN SOME LOSE SOME, BUT ANY WIN IS A WIN: Her successes were not from her own wins, but from the fact that her intention was always about democracy. Her strategy was long term. Having people to choose from on a ballot not only held elected officials accountable to their constituents, but to stay in office, the voter had to feel like you actually helped them. From 2011 to current, Democrats and Independant's have run for board in the community.
During these critical political years for Bonnie, she highlights a blog she was a part of with other residents. During her campaigns, she would write on the Citizens Blog. She would share her experiences and her investigation work. The locals began talking about it around town. She became notorious and the administration could not stop her because it was factual and freedom of speech. This launched her journalism career.
This part of the story twists and turns, as Bonnie entered the world of Journalism. She found a Nitch in Hard Hitting News that nobody else would write about, for fear of retaliation. She wrote about the victim side of things, such as victims of police brutality, government corruption, and hate groups.
She would tell their side of the story and be adamant in their defense if she saw the person or their organization try to paint the victim in the wrong light to destroy their reputation, instead of admitting the wrongdoing to the person. Some say she took a stance for them because she had undergone so much of this in her political career.
She became well known in Illinois news but continued to cover her hometown and elections. Then one day, she got a call about corruption in her hometown. She found a group of individuals who were travelling statewide and scamming government offices. When they got wind of her investigation, they targeted her, her child, her ex-husband, parents, sister, family and friends. They contacted her employer 8x to have her terminated. After their relentless stalking of her home, over 40 police reports, and two reports of lone wolf attacks, she had had enough of these crazy people. She found that they had over 50 screen names, mostly belonging to one very mentally unstable person. They had numerous fake pages set up to distribute stochastic terrorism tactics on her and created echo chambers.
Bonnie fought back. She filed a lawsuit and was seeking millions in damage. The damage was unrepairable. Half-way through the case, and $200,000 in debted to attorneys, she learned another valuable lesson. She had filed against the group and organization just to find out that they were broke. Furthermore, they had a secret 501c4 they failed to disclose that supported the opposition to the victim she had supported. Now she knows why they came after her so hard.
As in any lawsuit, when you realize there is no money because they are broke, and that they are hiding under a different organization name that is backed by dark money, your attorney will advise you to withdraw the case. Sometimes you have to pay to do so, or sometimes it is in the form of an apology. For example, if you allege someone at xyz did you harm, but they really work at abc, you have to apologize for the false statement. Crazy right? It is not asked if they are guilty or not.
In Bonnie's case, she moved on and learned all about 501c3 vs 501c4, SuperPACs and Dark Money from the experience. She learned how the "bad guys" hid their actions, their money, and what their real agendas were. She was dedicated to showing the world that not all bad people were that evil. She would be the balance.
Four years later, and with the hate group still daily harassing her and her loved ones, she was still doing her thing as a journalist. She published her stories and became an expert of Stochastic Terrorism, extremist behaviors, echo chambers, dark money and hate groups. As a survivor of the brutality and childish behaviors, she rose up to show us a story of her resilience, and how she put herself selflessly between the evil to block the victims. Time and time again, whether running for office as an obstruction so that good people could be nominated and not smeared, or when trolls were attacking people online, she swayed them away towards hers and protected them. A look at her google will show you how many enemies she has made and how much they have defamed her. Yet she stands here today, smiling and ready to take on the next battle.
When we asked her about her experience covering groups like Moms for Liberty, or corrupt Watch dog groups, her take a way wasn't about corruption. She said a win for her is that she said she no longer cared what people posted about her. She wasn't going to be silent. That was what they wanted, and they feared her. The resilience and experience gave her the pathway to enlightenment. Learning how to not care what people think about you was her greatest personal achievement.
So, what is next? Bonnie has helped with many local and Congressional campaigns. She likes helping good people run for office and she loves the journalism. Her next step is to help in both areas.
Bonnie is a unique Consultant focused on Fortune 500, DoD, and Political Organization and Department changes for the "Fortune 500" and the "Department of Defense" as a Leader and Expert Industrial/Organizational Psychologist, Organizational Change Manager, IT and enterprise Service Consultant, SAFe & Lean Agile Product Owner, Project Manager, Instructional Designer, and SCRUM Master/ Trainer/ Coach.
Her political investigative journalism has landed her international awards. Her work has removed countless corrupt elected officials from office, police officers, and exposed and thwarted hate group and stochastic terrorism efforts.
Industrial/Organizational Psychologist
Capella University • Minneapolis, MN
Project Management
Univ. of Adelaide, South Australia
(Prestigious Group of 8, and ranked top 100 in World Universities 2024)
Design & Development of Educational Technology
MIT • Boston, MA
(Named the world's top #1 University QS World Univ Rankings 2024)
Author of 15 books, a Former College Professor, and esteemed leader in the Process Improvement Industry.
In this riveting episode of Coup Save America, Bonnie Kurowski, an esteemed journalist and political writer best known for her work with theillinoisreporter.com, takes us on a deep dive into the troubling world of stochastic terrorism. Her expert analysis illuminates the wide-ranging use of this strategy aimed at intimidating those who disagree. Kurowski examines how to protect against this form of hostility, using poignant stories from individuals who have personally faced stochastic terrorism to provide important insights on this timely issue.
In the episode, we investigate the role of online platforms as incubators of hate speech and discuss the participants involved. We also delve into the strategies for thwarting this worrisome trend. Kurowski's narrative stresses the importance of understanding extremism, recruitment strategies, political campaigns, election processes, and the operations of hate groups. As a victim of stochastic terrorism, she bravely shares her own story and devotes her work to informing the public about this significant threat to American society, regardless of the constant threats she endures.
Together, we navigate the labyrinth of far-right extremism, hate groups, and the complicated mechanics of stochastic terrorism, promoting a more profound comprehension of these multifaceted issues.
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