Early 2009 Pressure

All of a sudden my family has me on the radar as the next one to get married. They want to hook me up with every man that mentions that he wants to settle down. And the funny thing is that the first thing they say when telling me about an "eligible bachelor" is, "let's see if "we" like him or not". We? whats up with the royal we, like they will be in my household if shit hits the fan. See, the problem is that my family think they know me when they really don't, let alone the kind of man I would want to be with. My mom on the other hand(who due to no fault of hers wasn't quite there during my childhood) now blames my dad for me being picky when it comes to men. She thinks I'm picky because she doesn't understand how I can go out on 2-3 different dates in a week. I've told her that gone are the days when marriage by photograph was the in thing. The only way to weed men out is to shop around. I know I am not getting any younger, but things started late for me compared to my friends. College for me was late as well as starting a career. Gosh, for the past ten years up untill recently, I've had full responsibility of my brother who has a disability, so what time did I have to date anyway. So, now that I am beginning to find who I really am, everyone wants me to get married?. There is nothing wrong with that, but Must I do so now?. Can't I take my time and find the right one for me?. Not sure if my family is trying to keep up with the Joneses and say their daughter is married. Or are they trying to look out for me so I don't die an old maid. It is to early in 2009 for all the pressure for real.

Any advice on how to handle this is certainly welcome.

Rejected By My Own Kind

One thing I learned growing up in Nigeria is that most Africans in Africa look up to African Americans. The fact that African Americans were forcefully taken away from their homeland and still able to accomplish all they have is empowering to Africans in Africa. However, since I came back to the US, which has been years now; I haven't for the most part received a reciprocal vibe from the group of people I have grown up to admire, especially their men.
It is a shame that African-Americans see us Africans as foreigners who they don't want to be associated with. And it is even more mind boggling that African American men do not want to have anything to do with African women, except sex. Whatever happened to wanting to be connected to your roots. Whatever happened to the days when going to a party hosted by Africans was cool.
With that said, I have come to the conclusion that the days of my "gap bridging" efforts are over. And for my stance on this to be effective, I have decided not to hang around a group of people, who happen to be my own kind, yet consider me a foreigner.
I love my black men and I admire my black people, but if the feeling is not reciprocated, I will have to give up. I am not bitter, anger or a race snob, I just feel rejected by my own kind.