Why is the poet like "air"?

The speaker in the poem describes herself as someone who is powerful in every circumstance, with “diamonds” at the juncture of her thighs. She is like air because she is rising upwards, despite what others may think. The speaker details the fact that she began life as a descendant of slaves; by comparison to this, there can be no doubt that the servant has transcended what was expected of him or her and has become more than was ever expected of him or her. The servant has triumphed in his or her move upwards and has therefore become the epitome of the statement that the poet is, like air, free and floating above everyone else in the approach to the divine. In possessing a true approach to all others, one becomes, like Angelou, the “air” of one’s society, connecting the pieces together.