She suffered virulent racist attacks during her brief tenure as Italy's integration minister, but two years on from that tumultuous summer, Cécile Kyenge is feeling jubilant. She tells The Local why.
Italy's prime minister, Matteo Renzi, has called a meeting of senators after they voted against bringing racism charges against a politician who likened the country's first black minister to an "orangutan".
Former Integration Minister Cecile Kyenge said she would appeal to the European Court of Justice after Italy’s Senate decided that the Northern League’s Roberto Calderoli would not be tried on racism charges after comparing her to an orangutan in 2013.
The editor of the Northern League party newspaper has claimed Integration Minister Cecile Kyenge enjoys "racial immunity", in response to criticism after the agenda of Italy's first black minister was published by the paper.
Next year Italy will roll out a new citizenship law, affecting tens of thousands of babies born each year, Integration Minister Cecile Kyenge has said.
Italy's first black minister Cecile Kyenge, who has been deluged with racist slurs since her appointment in April, urged Europe's leaders on Wednesday not to spread populism or use it to win votes.
Italy's Integration Minister Cecile Kyenge said on Thursday that "unimaginable threats" were becoming a daily routine, after a far-right party used bloody mannequins to call for her resignation.
Italy's first black minister on Thursday said she would not attend a conference organised by the Northern League party after a torrent of racist abuse from members of the anti-immigration group.
Cécile Kyenge's first term as integration minister has been blighted by racial attacks. On Tuesday she said the attacks not only hurt her but "the civil conscience of the majority of this country". The Local took to the streets of Rome to find out if Italians agree.
