The debt deal has been announced and the senior advisor to President Obama, Valerie Jarrett, has been making her rounds to assure minority communities that the president had, and still has, their best interests in mind.

“I want to be clear that President Obama understands that the African-American community has been disproportionately and severely hurt by the recession,” Jarrett told Essence.com.

The president’s right hand, Jarrett appeared on the SIRUS XM radio talk show The Black Eagle with Joe Madison this morning, and will make an appearance on Reverend Al Sharpton’s talk show, Keeping It Real, this afternoon.

Though she calls the deal not ideal, Jarrett says that the president diverted disaster, and that’s very important.

“Let's keep in mind that if we had not reached an agreement as we did late last night, the U.S. economy domestically and globally could have faltered severely,” she said.

Jarrett says that the president was unwilling to bring down the deficit on the backs of seniors, the poor, the middle class and disabled persons. Through the deal, Medicaid, S-CHIP, food stamps, Social Security, Medicare, EITC and other critical programs will be excluded from the cuts.

In Jarrett’s recent exclusive interview with BET.com she reminds audiences that the president began his career as a community organizer and that he enters the office every day with the stories of people, like those he helped, in mind.

“The single most important thing we can do is make sure our children are equipped to have the jobs for tomorrow,” she said.

Jarrett says the president is working to strengthen educational programs that are critical for minority communities including community college programs, Pell Grants—which were maximized and preserved through the debt deal—and HBCU funding, which was set at $850 million over 10 years.

Related Exclusive Video: White House Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett on the Debt Limit

Part 1: What happens if the U.S. defaults on its debt obligation.

Part 2: As the Black-white wealth gap widens, will core social programs be preserved?

Part 3: How can the Obama administration ensure Americans' needs aren't forgotten?

To share story ideas with Danielle Wright, follow and tweet her at @DaniWrightTV.

(Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)